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EDITED  BY 

WILLIAM  T.  HARRIS,  A.  M.,  LL.  D. 


VOLUMJE  XXV. 


wits 


INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION  SERIES 


HOW  TO  STUDY 
AND  TEACH  HISTORY 

WITH  PAKTICULAR  REFERENCE  TO  THE 
HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


BY 

B.  A.  HINSDALE,  Ph.D.,  LL.  D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  THE  SCIENCE  AND  THE  ART  OF  TEACHING 
IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN 
AUTHOR  OF 

SCHOOLS  AND  STUDIES,  THE  OLD  NORTHWEST,  AND  THE  AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT 
AND  EDITOR  OF  THE  WORKS  OF  JAMES  ABRAM  GARFIELD 


REVISED  EDITION,  WITH  ADDITIONAL  MATTER, 
INCLUDING  A  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  INDEX 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

V 

1912 


Copyright,  1893, 

By  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


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EDITOK’S  PKEFACE. 


The  present  volume  belongs  to  the  fourth  division  of 
works  included  in  this  series.  It  relates  to  the  art  of 
education,  and  comes  under  the  first  subdivision  of  that 
head— namely,  methods  of  instruction.*  There  is  no 
branch  of  educational  literature  of  more  importance  than 
that  which  treats  of  methods  of  instruction.  I  might 
add,  too,  that  the  method  of  teaching  history,  as  con¬ 
trasted  with  the  methods  of  teaching  mathematics  or 
geology,  or  other  branches  of  natural  science,  even  in¬ 
cluding  biology,  has  a  peculiar  importance  of  its  own. 
For  history  deals  with  the  will  power  of  man  and  moves 
chiefiy  in  the  province  of  motives  and  purposes,  and  only 
secondarily  in  the  province  of  mere  mechanical  causation. 

While  it  is  important  to  study  the  theater  of  action 
and  to  understand  the  problems  presented  by  land  and 
water,  by  mountain  ranges,  deserts,  rivers,  climates,  and 


♦  The  scheme  includes  works  under  four  general  heads : 

I.  History  of  Education. 

II.  Criticisms  of  Education,  mostly  written  by  educational  reformers. 

III.  Systematic  Works  presenting  the  Theory  of  Education. 

IV.  Art  or  Practice  of  Education. 

The  fourth  division— Art  or  Practice— includes :  (1)  Books  on  the 
method  of  instruction ;  (2)  On  methods  of  government  and  discipline;  (3) 
On  methods  of  organizing  schools,  etc. ;  (4)  Supervision  of  schools. 

(v) 


VI 


EDITOR^S  PREFACE. 


soil,  yet  these  and  all  circumstances  of  the  environment 
belong  only  to  the  category  of  means  and  agencies  which 
man  as  a  self-active  being  has  learned  to  use — or  will 
learn  hbw  to  use.  They  are  the  stuff  which  he  is  to  work 
up  into  patterns  according  to  his  ideals.  The  material 
world  is  the  quarry  in  which  we  may  help  ourselves  to 
whatever  can  serve  to  realize  our  inner  aims.  Civilization 
is  the  conquest  over  material  nature  by  the  organization 
of  human  society  according  to  ideals  of  justice  and  be¬ 
neficence.  Justice  returns  the  deed  upon  the  doer ;  but 
beneficence,  philanthropy,  loving-kindness,  or  grace,  as 
this  moral  sensibility  is  called,  seeks  to  bring  good  to  the 
doer  in  place  of  the  evil  that  he  sends  forth,  and  conse¬ 
quently  prefers  to  accept  pain  and  suffer  from  discom¬ 
moding  when  it  may  thereby  help  an  evil  doer  to  grow 
into  righteousness  and  goodness.  Righteousness  and 
goodness  are  the  ideas  that  the  Hebrew  sacred  writings 
have  given  to  mankind  as  the  essential  attributes  of  the 
Divine  Being.  As  righteous,  He  holds  men  responsible 
for  their  actions  and  returns  their  deeds  upon  them ;  as 
goodness,  however,  He  shows  tenderness  toward  sinful 
and  erring  humanity  and  is  eternally  forgiving — thus 
suffering  and  bearing  evil  in  this  world  in  order  that  He 
may  nurture  self-active  beings  potentially  in  his  image 
into  the  realization  of  his  image. 

This  Hebrew  idea  adopted  into  our  civilization  is  the 
essence  of  history,  because  it  is  at  once  the  cause  of  civili¬ 
zation  and  the  measure  of  it.  In  proportion  as  a  people 
organize  institutions  that  realize  righteousness  and  good¬ 
ness,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  justice  and  mercy,  they 
achieve  civilization. 

History  is  an  account  of  this  progress,  and  Hegel  has 
well  said,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Philosophy  of  His- 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


Vll 

tory,  that  “  the  theme  of  world  history  is  the  onward  prog¬ 
ress  into  the  consciousness  of  freedom.”  *  The  steps  to 
this  insight  are,  first,  man’s  self-activity ;  second,  the  re¬ 
ligious  idea  that  God  is  perfect  self-activity ;  third,  that 
perfect  self-activity  is  moral ;  f  fourth,  moral  freedom,  be¬ 
ing  the  divine  form  and  image,  man’s  destiny  is  to  grow 
into  it ;  and  hence,  fifth,  the  measure  of  progress  in  history 
is  this  development  into  the  consciousness  of  freedom,  or 
into  clear  insight  into  what  is  divine  and  eternal,  and  the 
use  of  the  earth  to  celebrate  this  consciousness  and  make 
it  perpetual.  For  this  consciousness  can  never  be  fully 
achieved  except  through  the  conquest  of  nature  for  spirit¬ 
ual  uses ;  nor  except  through  a  completed  natural  science 
which  will  reveal  all  provinces  of  matter  and  force  and 
life  as  progressive  steps  in  the  development  of  free  indi¬ 
viduality — mineral,  plant,  animal,  man,  being  the  four 
chief  stadia.  The  world  in  time  and  space,  according  to 
this  religious  theory,  is  a  cradle  for  the  nurture  of  free 
beings,  beginning  so  low  down  as  to  include  insensate 
rocks  and  the  very  ether  itself. 

I  have  mentioned  purposely  this  religious  ideal  in 
order  to  bring  out  in  sharpest  contrast  that  view  of  his¬ 
tory  which  delights  to  ally  it  most  closely  with  natural 
science,  and  to  find  the  explanation  of  all  human  events 
in  the  structure  and  forces  of  the  material  environment. 
According  to  the  materialistic  school  of  historians  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  free  will ;  each  being  is  determined  to 
be  what  he  is  by  the  totality  of  conditions. 


*  Page  24, 3d  ed. :  “  Die  Weltgeschichte  ist  der  Fortschritt  ira  Bewusst- 
seyn  der  Freiheit.” 

t  The  law  of  morality  is  to  act  in  such  a  way  that  one’s  deed  does  not 
infringe  on  the  freedom  or  self-activity  of  others ;  any  such  infringement 
would  be  self-contradiction,  and  would  be  self-destructive  in  the  end. 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


\ 

•  •  • 

Vlll 


I  am  not  disparaging  the  study  of  man’s  environment, 
however,  but  only  pointing  out  the  extremes  to  which 
the  reaction  against  the  former  somewhat  abstract  view 
has  led.  The  old  theory  was  made  by  men  intoxicated 
with  the  great  idea  of  individual  freedom,  and  as  a  con¬ 
sequence  it  slighted  the  material  factor  of  civilization. 
It  was  reluctant  to  admit  the  existence  of  such  a  factor. 
The  reaction  that  has  set  in  from  the  province  of  natural 
science  proposes  to  ignore  man’s  freedom  and  take  ac¬ 
count  only  of  the  determining  circumstance,  which  sur¬ 
round  individuals  and  groups  of  men. 

This  contradiction  is  not,  however,  difficult  to  recon¬ 
cile.  Looking  at  the  goal  of  human  progress  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  man  is  on  his  way  to  conquer  and  reduce  to 
his  service  the  powers  and  products  of  Nature.-  The 
amount  of  human  energy  expended  in  compelling  Nature 
to  his  use  is  far  greater  than  that  expended  directly  in 
attaining  consciousness  of  himself  and  in  realizing  moral 
self-control.  Man  works  -for  food,  clothing,  and  shelter 
far  more  hours  than  for  science,  art,  religion,  and  civil 
government. 

He  therefore  spends  most  of  his  energy  in  reacting 
against  his  material  environments,  and  is  thus  said  to  be 
enslaved  by  it.  The  materialists  say  that  he  is  under 
necessity.  But  they  ignore  the  obvious  fact  of  self¬ 
activity.  Man  is  acted  upon,  but  he  reacts  on  the  exter¬ 
nal  through  his  native  energy.  His  reaction  consists 
chiefly  in  turning  out  or  dispossessing  the  control  of  Na¬ 
ture  and  in  seizing  control  for  his  own  uses.  He  turns 
Nature’s  forces  against  Nature’s  purposes  and  makes  his 
environment  acknowledge  his  sway. 

Man’s  self-activity  presupposes  as  its  basis  what  Kant 
calls  a  transcendental  freedom— a  radiating  center  of  pure 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


IX 


Belf-activity  not  dependent  at  all  on  anything  in  time 
and  space  except  for  its  manifestation.  All  Nature,  all 
facts  and  events,  belong  to  the  secondary  order  of  use,  but 
not  to  the  primary  order  of  free  causality  ;  all  things  are 
for  man’s  use,  but  man  himself  is  a  transcendental  free¬ 
dom  that  can  dispense  with  the  world  and  all  that  it  con¬ 
tains  by  simply  refraining  from  any  act  of  manifestation. 
He  can  dispense  with  food  and  drink,  letting  his  body 
starve ;  food  and  drink  therefore  do  not  determine  him 
in  any  such  sense  as  his  will  determines  him.  They  can 
come  only  so  far  as  to  be  secondary  agencies  in  realizing 
his  motives. 

A  direct  efficient  cause  necessitates  a  change  in  some¬ 
thing  else,  but  a  motive  or  purpose  (called  a  “final 
cause  ”)  does  not  constrain  an  actor  or  doer  ;  its  presence 
in  the  mind  is  the  product  of  one  free  act  (namely,  that  of 
abstraction,  which  thinks  of  something  else  in  the  place 
of  what  is),  and  then  its  realization  by  the  will  is  another 
free  act,  by  which  the  soul  affirms  itself  and  encroaches 
on  the  independent  existence  of  its  environment  by  sub¬ 
stituting  its  own  purposes  for  those  of  Nature. 

This  factor  of  transcendental  freedom  is  the  soul  of 
history,  but  of  course  it  reveals  itself  or  realizes  itself 
only  in  modifying  its  environment  to  adapt  it  to  human 
uses.  In  the  frozen  zone  the  Eskimo  has  fashioned  him¬ 
self  a  hut  of  snow  and  ice,  using  the  product  of  cold  to 
exclude  the  cold.  The  environment  does  not  create  the 
food,  clothing,  and  shelter  of  the  Eskimo.  It  is  he,  the 
self-active,  who  has  reacted  against  it  and  forced  va¬ 
rious  products  out  of  their  natural  purposes  into  his  own. 
Given  his  environment,  and  we  can  see  and  measure  his 
amount  of  reaction  against  it — we  can  see  how  much  he 
has  conquered  it.  His  conquest  is  the  measure  of  his  en- 


X 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


ergy,  and  relatively  the  measure  of  the  resistance  to  hu« 
man  energy. 

But  in  proportion  to  man’s  inner  development  of  ideas 
he  is  able  to  advance  in  the  conquest  of  the  environment 
and  usurp  the  natural  directive  forces  of  the  physical 
world. 

With  the  reactive  power  of  the  Algonquin  tribes  the 
use  of  the  environment  was  inconsiderable  compared  with 
that  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  An  ocean  as  an  environment 
excluded  the  savage,  but  it  was  a  good  road  to  the  Euro¬ 
pean. 

When  man  acts  on  Nature  his  products  have  two  fac¬ 
tors — the  natural  stuff  or  material  and  the  modification 
or  use  forced  on  it  by  human  will.  The  former  factor  is 
contributed  by  the  environment,  the  second  factor  arises 
in  “  transcendental  freedom.” 

Now  it  is  evident  that  history  has  two  researches  to 
make,  the  first  one  an  inventory  of  the  environment,  as 
complete  as  may  be  made  of  its  things  and  forces ;  the 
second,  an  inventory  of  the  people,  including  physical  and 
intellectual  traits  and  ideals. 

The  antecedents  of  the  American  settlers  had  already 
revealed  in  Europe  what  degree  of  reaction  they  possessed 
against  environments  of  land,  water,  and  climate.  It  had 
shown  their  ideals  and  their  command  of  means  to  realize 
them.  It  had  shown  the  growth  of  those  ideals  through 
the  gradual  assimilation  of  the  purely  spiritual  ideas  de¬ 
rived  from  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  the  Greek  literature, 
and  the  Roman  political  and  social  forms. 

A  civilization  has  its  highest  phase  in  the  religious 
convictions  of  its  people,  revealed  in  its  church,  its  litera¬ 
ture,  and  its  science ;  its  second  phase  in  the  political 
form  of  the  nation,  including  its  legislative,  executive, 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


XI 


and  judicial  functions.  The  third  phase  of  its  civilization 
next  in  order  from  the  highest  is  its  industrial  system  and 
its  method  of  utilizing  the  features  of  its  material  en¬ 
vironment  not  merely  for  food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  but 
more  especially  for  rapid  and  frequent  ■  intercommuni¬ 
cation  between  its  own  citizens  and  with  foreign  peoples 
collecting  and  diffusing  knowledge. 

The  geographical  environment  of  the  American  conti¬ 
nent  has  not  materially  modified  the  development  of  civ¬ 
ilization  already  on  its  course  of  evolution  when  the 
emigrants  were  leaving  their  European  homes  for  this 
country ;  we  have  developed  further  the  ideas  of  Protes¬ 
tant  Englishmen,  Dutchmen,  Germans,  and  French  Hu¬ 
guenots  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  we  have  taught 
their  ideas  to  other  immigrants  that  have  come  to  live 
among  us.  We  have  gladly  availed  ourselves  of  the  dis¬ 
coveries  of  science  to  carry  forward  the  conquest  of  Nature 
and  make  it  an  indifferent  matter  where  the  citizen  makes 
his  home;  whether  North  or  South,  East  or  West,  he  can 
command  the  productions  of  all  sections  and  of  all  the 
world  at  a  very  cheap  rate,  thanks  to  the  aid  of  steam 
on  railroad  and  river. 

In  fact  no  civilization  was  ever  before  so  indifferent  to 
its  natural  environment,  and  so  confident  in  its  ability  to 
create  an  environment  of  its  choice. 

The  study  of  the  environment  has  therefore  become  a 
sort  of  inventory  of  products  of  Nature  which  are  to  serve 
as  raw  material  for  human  ingenuity  to  transmute  into 
articles  of  use.  Moreover,  our  civilization  is  continually 
lessening  the  effect  of  our  immediate  environment  by 
making  present  all  distant  environments  through  the  ma¬ 
chinery  of  transportation. 

History  is  a  window  of  the  soul,  as  I  have  often  called 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


•  • 

Xll 

it,*  that  looks  out  upon  the  deeds  of  the  race.  It  shows 
man  engaged  in  the  work  of  revealing  what  is  essential  in 
his  inward  nature  and  what  he  makes  real  in  his  institu¬ 
tions — the  family,  civil  society,  the  state,  the  Church. 

The  study  of  our  own  national  history  is  first  in  order, 
but  it  can  not  be  carried  very  far  without  involving  us  in 
the  great  European  movements  that  led  to  the  discovery 
and  colonization  of  America.  Nor  can  mediaeval  or  mod¬ 
ern  European  history  be  understood  except  through  an 
investigation  of  the  three  peoples — Greeks,  Komans,  and 
Hebrews — that  furnish  the  three  strands  which  combine 
to  make  modern  civilization. 

In  the  work  of  Dr.  Hinsdale  before  us  the  reader  will 
find  the  safe  guidance  of  an  author  who  honors  and  appre¬ 
ciates  at  their  true  value  the  two  factors  of  history,  the 
material  and  the  spiritual.  The  teacher  will  derive  essen¬ 
tial  assistance  from  the  hints  which  crowd  its  pages, 
pointing  out  the  discriminating  marks  that  enable  him  to 
select  the  significant  and  to  pass  lightly  over  the  unim¬ 
portant. 

W.  T.  Harris. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Novemher  1893. 


*  How  to  Study  Geography  (in  this  series),  Editor’s  preface,  p.  vii. 


AUTHOE’S  PKEFACE. 


The  last  generation  has  seen  a  great  growth  of  inter¬ 
est  in  history,  and  particularly  so  in  the  United  States. 
Evidences  of  this  fact  are  the  increased  production  of  his¬ 
torical  literature  of  all  kinds,  the  application  of  more  sci¬ 
entific  methods  to  historical  investigation,  the  growth  of 
historical  societies  in  number,  prosperity,  and  infiuence, 
and  especially  the  greatly  augmented  attention  that  is 
given  to  history  as  a  branch  of  general  education. 

The  change  in  the  colleges  and  universities  is  very 
marked.  A  college  or  university  can  not  be  named  that, 
thirty  years  ago,  employed  a  single  professor  exclusively 
in  historical  teaching ;  now  there  are  a  number  of  such 
institutions  that  require  the  united  labors  of  several  men 
to  do  the  work.  There  has  been  a  similar  if  not  an  equal 
growth  of  interest  in  the  secondary  and  elementary  schools. 
In  fact,  it  was  only  a  few  years  ago  that  the  States  first 
began  to  put  the  History  of  the  United  States  on  the  list 
of  studies  required  to  be  taught  in  the  common  schools. 

Nor  is  the  change  made  in  the  schools  limited  to  the 
quantity  of  the  work  that  is  done ;  in  respect  to  subject- 
matter  and  methods  of  teaching  it  is  perhaps  equally 
pronounced.  Here,  however,  there  is  reason  to  think  that 
the  gain  is  greater  in  the  higher  schools  than  in  the  lower 
ones.  At  least,  it  is  the  general  opinion  of  competent 

(xiii) 


XIV 


AUTHOR’S  PREFACE. 


judges  that  history  is  one  of  the  studies  that  are  poorly 
taught,  as  a  rule,  in  the  schools  below  the  college.  The 
reasons  for  this  appear  to  be  that  only  a  short  time  has 
elapsed  since  the  new  emphasis  was  placed  upon  the  sub¬ 
ject,  that  it  is  commonly  taught  by  teachers  who  are  not 
prepared  for  the  work  (on  the  theory  that  almost  anybody 
can  teach  history),  and  that  history  presents  some  peculiar 
diflBculties  to  the  teacher. 

The  aim  of  this  book  is  practical.  In  writing  it,  I 
have  sought  to  help  students  and  teachers  who  will  read 
it  with  attention.  It  is  not  indeed  practical  in  the  nar¬ 
row  mechanical  sense  of  the  word ;  no  effort  is  made  to 
tell  the  teacher  just  what  he  shall  teach  or  just  how  he 
shall  teach  it.  The  aim  is  rather  to  state  the  uses  of  his¬ 
tory,  to  define  in  a  general  way  its  field,  to  present  and  to 
illustrate  criteria  for  the  choice  of  facts,  to  emphasize  the 
organization  of  facts  with  reference  to  the  three  principles 
of  association,  to  indicate  sources  of  information,  to  de¬ 
scribe  the  qualifications  of  the  teacher,  and  finally  to  illus¬ 
trate  causation  and  the  grouping  of  facts  by  drawing  the 
outlines  of  some  important  chapters  of  American  history. 
If  it  be  objected  to  these  studies  that  they  belong  to  his¬ 
tory  itself  rather  than  to  a  book  on  teaching  history,  the 
obvious  reply  is  that  they  make  the  subject  more  con¬ 
crete.  The  frequent  criticism  on  pedagogical  books  and 
lectures,  that  they  are  general  and  abstract,  often  betrays 
a  low  mental  plane  on  the  part  of  the  critic,  but  this  is 
not  always  the  case.  There  can  be  no  question  that  even 
good  teachers,  in  such  discussions  as  the  present  one,  re¬ 
quire  a  great  deal  of  concrete  illustration. 

While  the  book  contains  much  matter  that  should,  in 
my  opinion,  interest  teachers  of  history  in  colleges,  I  have 
written  it  with  the  needs  of  elementary  and  secondary 


AUTHOR’S  PREFACE. 


XV 


teachers  more  particularly  in  mind.  Others  will  decide 
upon  my  success ;  but  1  may  fairly  plead  as  qualifications 
for  writing  it  a  considerable  knowledge  of  students  and 
teachers  gained  in  schools  and  institutes,  some  patient 
study  of  history  itself  and  some  experience  in  teaching  it, 
some  attention  to  its  pedagogical  aspects,  and  particularly 
some  service  as  a  lecturer  on  teaching  history  in  institutes^ 
summer  schools,  and  in  the  college  and  university. 

It  has  not  been  found  possible  so  to  divide  the  subject 
as  wholly  to  avoid  touching  more  than  once  upon  certain 
parts  of  it.  Such,  however,  is  the  value  of  reasonable 
iteration  that  this  can  hardly  be  urged  as  a  fair  criticism. 

B.  A.  Hinsdale. 

University  of  Michigan, 

October  26,  1893. 


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GENERAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


References  will  be  found  accompanying  the  successive  chapters. 
It  is  thought  best,  however,  to  present  a  general  bibliography,  com¬ 
prising  for  the  most  part  works  of  a  general  character  to  which  it 
is  desirable  that  teachers  of  history  should  have  constant  access. 
The  bibliographies  preceding  the  chapters  relate  to  special  subjects. 

While  the  English  language  is  very  rich  in  historical  literature, 
it  is  comparatively  poor  in  works  relating  to  the  study  and  teaching 
of  history.  For  example,  of  the  sixty-eight  numbered  titles  found 
in  Dr.  Hall’s  Bibliography  of  Education  under  the  head  of  History 
and  Political  Science,  only  some  twenty  are  in  English,  while  a  ma¬ 
jority  of  these  are  either  manuals,  guides,  or  articles  prepared  for 
the  periodical  press.  In  fact,  most  of  the  pedagogical  literature 
relating  to  the  subject  must  be  sought  in  magazines,  educational 
journals,  pamphlets,  and  proceedings  of  educational  associations. 
Upon  the  whole,  it  must  be  said  that  the  professional  literature  re¬ 
lating  to  the  subject  is  now  rapidly  increasing. 

I.  C.  K.  Adams. — A  Manual  of  Historical  Literature.  Compris¬ 
ing  Brief  Descriptions  of  the  Most  Important  Histories  in  English, 
French,  and  German,  together  with  Practical  Suggestions  as  to 
Methods  and  Courses  of  Historical  Study,  for  the  use  of  Students, 
General  Readers,  and  Collectors  of  Books.  Omitting  the  subheads, 
the  chapters  are  entitled :  Introduction,  On  the  Study  of  History, 
Universal  Histories,  Histories  of  Antiquity,  Histories  of  Greece,  of 
Rome,  of  the  Middle  Ages,  of  Modern  Times,  of  Italy,  of  Germany, 
of  France,  of  Russia  and  Poland,  of  the  Smaller  Nationalities  of 
Europe,  of  England,  and  of  the  United  States.  This  work  is  the 
most  valuable  of  its  kind  that  American  scholarship  has  produced. 

II.  H.  B.  Adams. — The  Study  of  History  in  American  Colleges 

2  (xvii) 


•  •  • 


GENERAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


XVlll 

and  Universities.  A  Circular  of  Information  of  the  Bureau  of  Edu¬ 
cation.  Dr.  Adams  aims  to  exhibit  the  origin,  development,  and 
present  status  of  history  in  the  colleges  and  universities  of  the 
United  States.  The  institutions  treated  at  greatest  length  are  Har¬ 
vard,  Yale,  Cornell,  and  Johns  Hopkins  Universities,  the  University 
of  Michigan,  and  Columbia  College,  though  some  others  are  in¬ 
cluded.  A  chapter  is  devoted  to  history  and  political  science  in  the 
Washington  High  School. 

HI.  E.  H.  Bunbury. — A  History  of  Ancient  Geography  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  from  the  Earliest  Ages  to  the  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Two  volumes,  with  twenty  illustrative  maps. 

IV.  Dr.  E.  a.  Freeman. — Few  historical  writers  can  be  studied 
by  advanced  students  and  teachers  with  more  advantage  than  Dr. 
Freeman.  This  is  due  in  part  to  the  diversity  of  his  subjects,  to 
the  thoroughness  of  his  treatment,  and  to  the  variety  of  forms  into 
which  he  has  thrown  his  studies,  but  largely  to  his  method  and 
style,  which  is  always  strong  and  clear,  with  plenty,  and  sometimes 
an  excess,  of  emphasis  on  the  main  points.  Viewing  his  works  from 
a  pedagogical  standpoint,  the  following  titles  may  be  given  :  (1)  The 
Historical  Geography  of  Europe,  2  vols.  Vol.  I.,  Text;  Vol.  II., 
Maps.  Introduction  :  The  Geographical  Aspect  of  Europe,  The  Ef¬ 
fects  of  Geography  on  History,  and  The  Geographical  Distribution 
of  Races.  The  chapters  bear  the  following  titles :  Greece  and  the 
Greek  Colonies,  Formation  of  the  Roman  Empire,  The  Dismember¬ 
ment  of  the  Empire,  The  Final  Division  of  the  Empire,  The  Begin¬ 
ning  of  the  Modern  European  States,  The  Ecclesiastical  Geography 
of  Western  Europe,  The  Imperial  Kingdoms,  The  Kingdom  of 
France,  The  Eastern  Empire,  The  Baltic  Land,  The  Spanish  Penin¬ 
sula  and  its  Colonies,  and  The  British  Islands  and  Colonies.  The 
volume  of  maps  is  not  properly  an  historical  atlas,  but  is  intended 
to  show  boundaries  of  states  and  changes  of  political  geography. 
(2)  Methods  of  Historical  Study.  Eight  Lectures  read  in  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Oxford,  with  an  Inaugural  Address  entitled  The  Office  of 
the  Historical  Professor.  The  subjects  of  the  lectures  are:  His¬ 
tory  and  its  Kindred  Studies,  The  Difficulties  of  Historical  Study, 
The  Nature  of  Historical  Evidence,  Original  Authorities,  Classi¬ 
cal  and  Mediaeval  Writers,  Subordinate  Authorities,  Modern  Writ¬ 
ers,  and  Geography  and  Travel.  (3)  Comparative  Politics.  Six 
Lectures  Read  before  the  Royal  Institution.  (4)  The  Unity  of  His¬ 
tory.  The  Rede  Lecture  before  the  University  of  Cambridge.  (5) 


GENERAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


XIX 


The  Chief  Periods  of  European  History.  (In  Nos.  4  and  5  Dr.  Free¬ 
man  has  developed  his  favorite  ideas  of  historical  unity  and  conti¬ 
nuity.)  (6)  The  Growth  of  the  English  Constitution.  (7)  Good 
examples  of  the  author’s  method,  as  well  as  good  historical  work, 
may  be  found  in  the  following  essays :  The  Relations  between  the 
Crowns  of  England  and  Scotland,  The  Franks  and  the  Gauls,  The 
Continuity  of  English  History,  The  Holy  Roman  Empire  (First 
Series) ;  Race  and  Language,  The  Byzantine  Empire  (Third  Series) ; 
Historical  Cycles  and  Augustan  Ages,  The  Growth  of  Common¬ 
wealths,  The  Constitution  of  the  German  Empire,  and  The  House 
of  Lords  (Fourth  Series).  Freeman’s  General  Sketch  of  History  is 
one  of  the  best.  In  his  essay  on  Lord  Macaulay,  Dr.  Freeman  re¬ 
marks:  “It  is  for  others  to  judge  whether  I  have  learned  from 
Macaulay  the  art  of  being  clear;  I  at  least  learned  from  Macaulay 
the  duty  of  trying  to  be  clear.*’  He  says  he  learned  of  him  that  to 
be  clear  a  writer  must  (1)  “  avoid  involved,  complicated,  parenthet¬ 
ical  sentences  ” ;  (2)  “  avoid  sentences  crowded  with  relatives  and 
participles  ” ;  (3)  and,  upon  this  he  lays  great  stress,  “  never  to  be 
afraid  of  using  the  same  word  over  and  over  again,  if  by  that  means 
anything  could  be  added  to  clearness  or  force.”  He  very  justly  re¬ 
marks  that  Macaulay  “never  goes  on,  like  some  writers,  talking 
about  the  ‘former’  and  the  ‘latter,’  ‘he,’  ‘she,’  ‘it,’  and  ‘they,’ 
through  clause  after  clause,  while  his  reader  has  to  look  back  to  see 
which  of  several  persons  it  is  that  is  so  referred  to.”  He  might  have 
added,  with  equal  truth,  that  Macaulay  never,  like  Gibbon,  writes 
history  allusively,  assuming  that  the  reader  has  the  facts  already  in 
his  possession,  and  that  it  is  the  author’s  business  merely  to  dis¬ 
course  or  comment  upon  them ;  but  that,  on  the  other  hand,  Macau¬ 
lay  always  looks  his  facts  squarely  in  the  face,  and  proceeds  to  state 
them  in  a  straightforward  manner,  a  virtue  that  is  also  exemplified 
by  Dr.  Freeman  himself. 

V.  H.  Gannett. — Boundaries  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
Several  States  and  Territories,  with  a  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Ter¬ 
ritorial  Changes.  Bulletin  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
No.  13. 

/ 

VI.  S.  R.  Gardiner. — A  School  Atlas  of  English  History. 

VII.  G.  S.  Hall. — Methods  of  Teaching  History.  The  first  edi¬ 
tion  of  this  work  contained  Dr.  Diesterweg’s  valuable  treatise.  In¬ 
struction  in  History,  but  it  has  been  excluded  from  the  revised  edi¬ 
tion,  and  is  now  published  separately.  The  contents  of  the  book  are 


XX 


GENERAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


the  following :  Introduction,  Methods  of  Teaching  American  History, 
Practical  Methods  in  Higher  Historical  Instruction,  On  Methods  of 
teaching  Political  Economy,  Historical  Instruction  in  the  Course 
of  History  and  Political  Science  at  Cornell  University,  Advice  to  an 
Inexperienced  Teacher,  A  Plea  for  Archaeological  Instruction,  The 
Use  of  a  Public  Library  in  the  Study  of  History,  Special  Methods  of 
Historical  Study,  The  Philosophy  of  the  State  and  of  History,  The 
Course  of  Study  in  History,  Eoman  Law,  and  Political  Economy  at 
Harvard  University,  The  Teaching  of  History,  On  Methods  of 
teaching  History,  On  Methods  of  Historical  Study  and  Research  in 
Columbia  University,  Physical  Geography  and  History,  Why  do 
Children  dislike  History?  Gradation  and  Topical  Method  of  His¬ 
torical  Study,  Part  I.,  Historical  Literature  and  Authorities,  Part 
II.,  Books  for  Collateral  Reading,  Part  III.,  School  Text-Books, 
Supplement,  History  Topics,  Bibliography  of  Church  History. 
These  chapters  are  the  work  of  distinguished  specialists,  and  the 
book  is  one  of  great  value  for  the  student  and  teacher. 

VIIL  A.  B.  Hart. — Epoch  Maps  illustrative  of  American  History. 

IX.  E.  F.  Henderson. — Select  Historical  Documents  of  the  Mid¬ 
dle  Ages. 

X.  Alex.  Johnston. — History  of  American  Politics.  Third  Edi¬ 
tion  Revised  and  Enlarged  by  Professor  Sloane.  A  book  that  made 
its  author  a  reputation. 

XI.  J.  J.  Lalor. — Cyclopaedia  of  Political  Science,  Political  Econ¬ 
omy,  and  United  States  History.  The  articles  on  American  History 
contributed  to  this  Cyclopaedia  by  the  late  Alexander  Johnston  are 
remarkable  for  clearness  of  insight  and  felicity  of  statement. 

XII.  E.  Lavisse. — General  View  of  the  Political  History  of  Eu¬ 
rope.  An  admirable  book  for  the  teacher  who  can  grasp  its  bold 
generalizations. 

XIII.  T.  MacCoun. — A  Historical  Geography  of  the  United 
States,  Historical  Charts  of  the  United  States. 

XIV.  C.  Ploetz. — Ancient,  Mediaeval,  and  Modern  History. 

XV.  H.  W.  Preston. — Documents  illustrative  of  American  His¬ 
tory,  1606-1868,  with  Introduction  and  References. 

XVI.  F.  W.  Putzger. — Historischer  Schulatlas  zur  Alten  Mitt- 
leren  und  Neuer  Geschichte. 

XVII.  E.  Reclus. — The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants. 

X  VIIL  N.  S.  Shaler. — Nature  and  Man  in  America ;  The  United 
States  of  America. 


GENERAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


XXI 


XIX.  W.  Stubbs.— The  Study  of  Mediaeval  and  Modern  History. 
Seventeen  Lectures  delivered  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  Every¬ 
thing  that  Bishop  Stubbs  has  written,  apart  from  its  historical 
value,  has  pedagogic  merit.  The  following  lectures  may  be  particu¬ 
larized  :  I.  Inaugural.  II.-III.  On  the  Present  State  and  Prospects 
pf  Historical  Study.  IV.  On  the  Purposes  and  Methods  of  Histor¬ 
ical  Study.  V.  Methods  of  Historical  Study.  VI.-VII.  On  the 
Characteristic  Differences  between  Mediaeval  and  Modern  History. 

XX.  J.  WiNSOR. — Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America: 
Vol.  I.  Aboriginal  America.  II.  Spanish  Explorations  and  Settle¬ 
ments  from  the  Fifteenth  to  the  Seventeenth  Century.  III.  English 
Explorations  and  Settlements  in  North  America,  1497-1689.  IV'. 
French  Explorations  and  Settlements  in  North  America,  and  those 
of  the  Portuguese,  Dutch,  and  Swedes,  1500-1700.  V.  The  English 
and  French  in  North  America,  1689-1763.  VI.-VII.  The  United 
States  of  North  America.  VIII.  The  Later  History  of  British, 
Spanish,  and  Portuguese  America.  This  monumental  work,  prepared 
by  specialists  on  the  co-operative  plan,  is  less  valuable  for  its  narra¬ 
tive  than  for  its  critical  portions.  For  students  who  can  handle 
such  an  apparatus,  its  critical  essays,  bibliographies,  catalogues  and 
descriptions  of  maps,  and  editorial  notes  are  invaluable.  Mr. 
Winsor’s  later  contributions  to  American  history  are :  Christopher 
Columbus,  Cartier  to  Frontenac,  The  Mississippi  Basin.  (These  lat¬ 
ter  are  considerably  abridged.) 

The  following  works  deal  more  with  the  pedagogical  side  of  his¬ 
tory ; 

Frederic  Harrison :  The  Meaning  of  History. 

W.  H.  Mace:  A  Working  Manual  of  American  History  for 
Teachers  and  Students.  A  useful  book  for  teachers  in  the  elemen¬ 
tary  schools,  and  for  teachers  and  pupils  in  high  schools. 

Edward  Channing  and  Albert  Bushnell  Hart :  Guide  to  the 
Study  of  American  History.  This  is  a  book  of  distinctly  high  grade, 
and  the  most  useful  manual  of  the  kind  that  has  been  published. 


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CHAPTER 


CONTENTS. 


Editor’s  Preface . 

Author’s  Preface . 

— The  Educational  Value  of  History  . 

11. — The  Field  of  History . 

III.  — Sources  of  Information . 

IV.  — The  Choice  of  Facts . 

— Methods  of  Teaching . 

VI. — The  Organization  of  Facts . 

VII. — The  Time  Relation  in  History:  Chronology  . 

VIII. — The  Place  Relation:  Geography 

IX. — Cause  and  Effect  in  History  .  .  .  . 

X. — Physical  Causes  that  act  in  History 
^  XI. — Human  Causes  that  act  in  History  . 

^Xll. — The  Teacher’s  Qualifications  .  .  .  . 

XIII.  — Historical  Geography:  The  Old  World  . 

XIV.  — Historical  Geography:  The  New  World  . 

XV. — North  America  in  Outline . 

XVI. — The  Colonization  of  North  America  . 

✓ 

XVII. — The  Struggle  between  France  and  England 

IN  North  America . 

XVIII. — A  Conspectus  of  the  American  Revolution 

XIX. — The  War  of  1812 . 

XX. — The  Territorial  Growth  of  the  United  States  . 
XXI. — Phases  of  Industrial  and  Political  Develop¬ 
ment  . 

XXII. — The  Slave  Power . 

XXIII. — Teaching  Civics . 

(xxiii) 


PAGE 

V 

•  •  • 
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18 
27 
42 
53 
67 
75 
92 
101 
110 
127 
138  ^ 
153 
174 
192-^ 
204 

219 

231 

245 

253 

277 

297 

314 


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HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH 

HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY. 

References. — Formal  discussions  of  the  educational  value  of  his¬ 
tory,  or  at  least  thorough  ones,  are  hardly  to  be  found  in  the  Eng¬ 
lish  language.  Valuable  remarks,  however,  will  be  found  in  the 
following  sources : 

Bolingbroke :  Letters  on  the  Study  and  Use  of  History ;  Diester- 
weg:  Instruction  in  History  (I.  The  Meaning  of  History,  II.  On  the 
Use  of  History) ;  Milton :  Tractate  on  Education ;  Locke :  Thoughts 
on  Education ;  Carlyle :  Critical  and  Miscellaneous  Essays  (History) ; 
Macaulay:  Critical  and  Miscellaneous  Essays  (History,  Hallam’s 
Constitutional  History  of  Europe,  Mackintosh’s  History  of  the  Rev¬ 
olution  in  England,  1688,  and  Mitford’s  History  of  Greece) ;  John 
Morley :  Critical  Miscellanies,  Second  Series  (Popular  Culture) ;  Em¬ 
erson  :  Essays  (History) ;  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold :  Lectures  on  Mod¬ 
ern  History  (Inaugural  Lecture);  Lecky:  The  Political  Value  of 
History,  A  Lecture;  Spencer:  Education  (I.  What  Knowledge  is 
of  most  Worth?);  Wells:  The  Teaching  of  History  in  Schools,  An 
Oxford  Extension  Lecture;  Stubbs:  The  Study  of  MediaBval  and 
Modern  History  (see  particularly  I.  and  II.) ;  Howell :  Education,  I. 
(History  in  its  Relation  to  Practical  Life) ;  Birrell :  Obiter  Dicta  (The 
Muse  of  History) ;  C.  K.  Adams :  Manual  of  Historical  Literature 
(Introduction,  On  the  Study  of  History);  Schaff:  History  of  the 
Christian  Church,  1.  (General  Introduction),  History  of  the  Apos¬ 
tolic  Church  (General  Introduction  to  Church  History) ;  Guizot :  His- 


2 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


tory  of  Civilization  {passim) ;  Jay :  Papers  of  the  American  Histor¬ 
ical  Association,  V.,  Nos.  1, 2  (The  Demand  for  Education  in  Ameri¬ 
can  History). 

The  pedagogical  writers  deal  with  the  subject  from  their  own 
point  of  view.  Bain:  Education  as  a  Science,  VIII.;  Compayre: 
Theoretical  and  Practical  Pedagogy,  Part  II.,  Chap.  V. ;  Currie : 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Common  School  Education,  XII. ;  Fitch : 
Lectures  on  Teaching,  XIIL ;  Klemm ;  European  Schools,  II.,  III. 

Why  should  we  teach  the  history  of  the  United  States 
in  the  schools  of  the  country  ?  The  question  is  part  of  a 
larger  one,  Why  teach  history  at  all  ?  And  this  question 
can  not  be  answered  without  taking  some  account  of  the  uses 
and  values  of  studies  in  general.  These  may  be  divided  into 
four  groups. 

First,  the  instrumental  studies  are  those  that  are  used  in 
carrying  on  other  studies  and  in  other  similar  mental  work. 
Writing  is  an  instrument  of  impartation,  and  also  an  instru¬ 
ment  of  record.  It  is  the  art  preservative  of  arts.  Heading, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  an  art  of  acquirement.  It  unlocks  the 
printed  page.  Notation,  numeration,  and  the  other  funda¬ 
mental  rules  of  arithmetic  are  also  instrumental ;  and  the 
same  may  he  said  of  drawing,  musical  notation,  and  the 
various  kinds  of  symbolism  employed  for  different  purposes. 
These  studies  or  arts  have  a  certain  value  in  themselves, 
but  they  are  primarily  tools  for  further  acquisition  or  im¬ 
partation. 

Secondly,  some  studies  give  us  knowledge  that  is  directly 
useful  in  practical  affairs.  These  are  the  guidance  or  in¬ 
formation  studies.  While  the  instrumental  studies  look  to 
further  acquirement,  these  find  their  uses  in  the  duties  and 
activities  of  real  life.  As  far  as  they  go,  they  tell  us  what 
to  do  and  what  not  to  do.  They  inform  the  mind.  Some  of 
them  are  preparatory  to  other  studies,  but  this  is  only  a  sec¬ 
ondary  reason  for  carrying  them  on.  They  all  have  disci¬ 
plinary  value,  hut  this  fact  does  not  determine  their  clas¬ 
sification.  Into  this  group  fall  such  studies  as  geography, 
physiology  and  hygiene,  and  many  more. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY.  3 

Thirdly,  the  disciplinary  studies  exercise  and  so  develop 
or  strengthen  the  mental  powers.  Some  of  them  lead  on  to 
other  studies,  as  arithmetic  to  algebra;  but  they  are  not 
pursued  primarily  for  this  reason.  Some  of  them  have 
guidance  value,  but  this  is  not  their  characteristic  function. 
The  disciplines  form  the  mind,  and  this  fact  determines  their 
classification.  Into  this  group  fall  the  mathematics,  science, 

and  language.  .  .  -i  ^ 

f  Fourthly,  culture  is  the  slowly  maturing  fruit  of  a  silent 

I  feeding  of  the  soul  upon  nourishing  ideas.  While  discipline 

looks  to  volume  of  mental  power,  culture  looks  to  its  kind. 

I  Culture  is  the  tone  of  power  rather  than  its  amount  or  in- 

\  tensity.  It  is  a  qualitative  rather  than  a  quantitative  word. 

And  the  culture  studies  are  those  that  conduce  to  such 

'  results.  Literature  and  art  are  typical  studies  of  this  group. 

Of  the  many  remarks  that  this  mapping  out  of  studies 
suggests,  perhaps  the  most  obvious  is  that  the  several  groups 
overlap  one  another.  There  is  discipline  in  the  instrunaental 
and  information  studies  ;  information  and  guidance  in  the 
disciplinary  studies  ;  and  so  on.  In  fact,  if  we  were  to 
make  a  close  analysis,  we  should  base  it  on  the  elements  of 
studies  rather  than  on  studies  considered  as  units.  A  further 
observation  is  that  studies  belonging  to  the  same  group  are 
by  no  means  equal  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  value  that 
they  possess.  They  differ  widely  in  this  respect.  It  should 
also  be  remarked  that  the  value  of  a  study  is  relative  to  the 
p\2pil,  as  respects  both  the  character  of  his  mind  and  his 
stage  of  mental  advancement.  One  person  may  get  most 
discipline,  for  example,  out  of  science,  another  most  out  of 
language  ;  while  arithmetic  belongs  to  an  early  stage  of 
mathematical  study,  calculus  to  a  late  one.  But  the  discus¬ 
sion  of  these  questions  belongs  to  a  treatise  on  Educational 
Values.  The  division  of  studies  into  the  instrumental,  the 
disciplinary,  the  guidance,  and  the  culture  groups,  with  the 
'  explanatory  observations  offered,  is  all-sufficient  for  the 
present  purpose. 

The  further  observation  should  be  added  that  man’s  na- 


4 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


ture  is  complex  ;  he  has  not  merely  an  intellect  to  be  formed 
and  furnished,  but  also  a  sensibility  to  be  affected  and  a  will 
to  be  energized. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  test  history  by  these  criteria — in 
other  words,  to  determine  the  nature  of  its  effects  upon  the 
mind.  Nor  will  this  be  sufficient ;  we  must  also  estimate^ 
approximately  at  least,  the  amount  or  quantity  of  educa¬ 
tional  value  wherever  it  arises.  But  properly  to  reach  these 
ends  we  must  consider  what  history  is. 

1.  The  staple  or  subject-matter  is  facts.  This  staple  does 
not  differ  in  kind  from  the  “  practical  knowledge  ”  or  “  useful 
information  ”  so  much  prized  by  the  practical  man.  Service¬ 
able  knowledge  about  the  things  going  on  in  the  world 
when  picked  up  by  observation,  gleaned  from  the  press,  or 
gathered  in  conversation,  is  what  Dr.  Fitch  calls  “  fact  lore  ” ; 
similar  knowledge  of  what  has  gone  on  in  the  world,  when 
learned  from  books  and  not  from  tradition,  is  history.  A 
journal  or  newspaper  presents  a  transcript  of  current  life,  a 
history  a  transcript  of  past  life. 

History,  then,  deals  with  man  in  his  proper  human  sphere 
or  capacity.  It  is  knowledge  of  the  workings  of  his  intellect, 
feelings,  and  will,  especially  as  these  workings  reveal  them¬ 
selves  in  objective  facts — laws,  cities,  battles,  religions,  and 
the  like.  It  is  therefore  moral  knowledge — knowledge  of 
the  play  and  activity  of  man’s  spiritual  nature. 

Evidently,  there  is  the  widest  difference  between  history 
and  mathematics  or  logic  in  two  respects.  The  first  in  its 
elementary  form  is  a  fact  study  ;  the  other  two  begin  with 
definitions  and  axioms  and  proceed  by  logical  deduction. 
History  moves  in  the  all-important  field  of  moral  freedom  ; 
mathematics  and  logic,  in  the  field  of  necessary  inference. 

2.  Historical  material  must  be  elaborated  and  combined. 
Historical  facts  by  themselves  are  not  history.  They  must 
be  worked  up  ;  or,  to  use  a  better  figure,  they  must  be  or¬ 
ganized — that  is,  be  brought  together  and  integrated  with 
reference  to  their  relations. 

3.  History  also  tests  its  own  results  ;  it  seeks  to  verify 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY. 


5 


its  own  facts  and  conclusions.  In  order  to  do  this,  it  must 
take  account  of*  its  methods  and  processes  of  investigation. 
The  reflective  treatment  of  historical  method  falls,  indeed, 
to  the  philosopher;  hut  its  essential  nature  and  practical 
application  must  also  engage  *  the  attention  of  the  historical 
student.  ^ 

I.  From  the  foregoing  account  it  is  manifest  that  his¬ 
tory  has  great  guidance  value.  As  information,  we  may'll 
well  hesitate  before  we  assign  to  any  school  study  a  higher 
rank.  In  a  great  number  and  variety  of  matters  experi¬ 
ence  is  the  lamp  to  a  man’s  feet  and  the  guide  to  his  path. 
No  doubt  oral  knowledge  immediately  influences  his  con¬ 
duct  to  a  greater  degree ;  but  in  the  long  run  history  is  the 
great  channel  that  conveys  to  him  the  past  experiences  of 
the  race.  In  politics,  in  religion,*  in  morals,  in  education, 
and  in  economical,  social,  and  industrial  life  it  is  indispen¬ 
sable.  This  is  why  Cicero  called  history  “the  witness  of 
times,  the  light  of  truth,  and  the  mistress  of  life  ” ;  and  why 
Diodorus  styled  it  “  a  handmaid  of  Providence,  a  priestess  of 
truth,  and  a  mother  of  life.”  Hereafter  something  will  be 
said  of  the  periods,  epochs,  and  ages  of  history,  and  of  the 
profound  influence  that  the  idea  of  evolution  has  recently 
exerted  in  modifying  the  ways  in  which  it  is  written  and 
taught ;  here  it  is  necessary  to  observe  that  no  man,  or  gen¬ 
eration,  or  nation  begins  life  anew,  but  that  historical  move¬ 
ment  is  necessarily  uninterrupted  and  continuous.  In  the 
words  of  Dr.  Schaff :  “  The  present  is  the  fruit  of  the  past 
and  the  germ  of  the  future.  No  work  can  stand  unless  it 
grows  out  of  the  real  wants  of  the  age  and  strikes  Arm  root 
in  the  soil  of  history.  No  one  who  tramples  on  the  rights 
of  a  past  generation  can  claim  the  regard  of  its  posterity. 


*  “  While  of  all  studies  in  the  whole  range  of  knowledge  the  study  of 
law  affords  the  most  conservative  training,  so  the  study  of  modern  his¬ 
tory  is,  next  to  theology  itself,  and  only  next  in  so  far  as  theology  rests  on 
a  divine  revelation,  the  most  thoroughly  religious  training  that  the  mind 
can  receive.” — Bishop  Stubbs. 


G 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


History  will  disregard  him  who  disregards  her.”  That  is, 
no  man  who  sets  at  naught  the  lessons  that  history  trans¬ 
mits  to  him  can  hope  to  transmit  influence  to  the  future. 

Bolingbroke  quotes  Dyonysius  of  Halicarnassus,  “His¬ 
tory  is  philosophy  teaching  by  examples.”  Moreover,  it  is 
the  only  channel  through  which  philosophy  can  directly  in¬ 
struct  or  influence  a  majority  of  mankind.  The  typical  fact 
or  story  of  the  historian  will  make  a  lodgment  in  minds  that 
the  generalizations  of  the  philosopher  can  never  enter. 

Truth  embodied  in  a  tale 
Shall  enter  in  at  lowly  doors. 

It  is  the  old  distinction  between  the  concrete  and  the  ab¬ 
stract,  the  particular  and  the  general,  example  and  precept. 

The  practical  value  of  history  is  a  commonplace.  A 
few  of  the  many  testimonies  to  its  use  may  be  transcribed. 

Milton.  Children  are  to  know  the  beginning,  end,  and  reasons 
of  political  societies,  and  to  dive  into  the  grounds  of  law  and  legal 
justice. 

Ouizot.  History  is  a  great  school  of  truth,  reason,  and  virtue. 

Locke.  I  recommend  it  to  one  who  hath  well  settled  in  his  mind 
the  principles  of  morality,  and  knows  how  to  make  a  judgment  on 
the  actions  of  men  as  one  of  the  most  useful  studies  he  can  apply 
himself  to.  There  he  shall  see  a  picture  of  the  world  and  the  na¬ 
ture  of  mankind,  and  so  learn  to  think  of  men  as  they  are.  There 
he  shall  see  the  rise  of  opinions,  and  find  from  what  slight  and 
sometimes  shameful  occasions  some  of  them  have  taken  their  rise, 
which  yet  afterward  have  had  great  authority  and  passed  almost 
for  sacred  in  the  world,  and  borne  down  all  before  them.  There 
also  one  may  learn  great  and  useful  instructions  of  prudence,  and  be 
warned  against  the  cheats  and  rogueries  of  the  world,  with  many 
more  advantages  which  I  shall  not  here  enumerate. 

Carlyle.  Clio  was  prefigured  by  the  ancients  as  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Memory,  and  chief  of  the  Muses;  which  dignity, 
whether  we  regard  the  essential  qualities  of  her  art,  or  its  practice 
and  acceptance  among  men,  we  shall  still  find  to  have  been  fitly 
bestowed.  History,  as  it  lies  at  the  root  of  all  science,  is  also  the 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY. 


7 


first  distinct  product  of  man’s  spiritual  nature,  his  earliest  expres¬ 
sion  of  what  can  be  called  thought.  .  .  .  Let  us  search  more  and 
more  into  the  past ;  let  all  men  explore  it  as  the  true  fountain  of 
knowledge,  by  whose  light  alone,  consciously  or  unconsciously  em¬ 
ployed,  can  the  present  or  the  future  be  interpreted  or  guessed  at. 

Macaulay,  Many  truths,  too,  would  be  learned,  which  can  be 
learned  in  no  other  manner.  As  the  history  of  states  is  generally 
written,  the  greatest  and  most  momentous  revolutions  seem  to  come 
upon  them  like  supernatural  inflictions,  without  warning  or  cause. 
But  the  fact  is,  that  such  revolutions  are  almost  always  the  conse¬ 
quences  of  moral  changes,  which  have  gradually  passed  on  the  mass 
of  the  community,  and  which  ordinarily  proceed  far,  before  their 
progress  is  indicated  by  any  public  measure.  An  intimate  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  domestic  history  of  nations  is  therefore  absolutely  neces¬ 
sary  to  the  prognosis  of  political  events.  A  narrative,  defective  in 
this  respect,  is  as  useless  as  a  medical  treatise  which  should  pass  by 
all  the  symptoms  attendant  on  the  early  stage  of  a  disease,  and  men¬ 
tion  only  what  occurs  when  the  patient  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
remedies. 

Morley.  It  is  the  present  that  really  interests  us ;  it  is  the  pres¬ 
ent  that  we  seek  to  understand  and  to  explain.  I  do  not  in  the 
least  want  to  know  what  happened  in  the  past,  except  as  it  enables 
me  to  see  my  way  more  clearly  through  what  is  happening  to-day. 
I  want  to  know  what  men  thought  and  did  in  the  thirteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  not  out  of  any  dilettante  or  idle  antiquarian’s  curiosity,  but  be¬ 
cause  the  thirteenth  century  is  at  the  root  of  what  men  think  and 
do  in  the  nineteenth. 

Mr.  Morley  goes  too  far.  While  history  is  at  bottom  a 
guidance  study,  it  still  does  much  more  for  the  mind  than 
simply  to  furnish  it  some  practical  lessons.  Professor  Seeley 
comes  nearer  the  truth  when  he  says,  “  History  should  not 
merely  gratify  the  reader’s  curiosity  about  the  past,  but 
modify  his  views  of  the  present.” 

II.  While  slight  attention  suffices  to  show  that  history 
has  disciplinary  value,  some  well-directed  thought  is  re¬ 
quired  to  discover  how  great  and  varied  this  value  is. 

1.  Taught  even  in  the  poorest  way — that  is,  by  dint  of 
iterating  and  reiterating  unorganized  facts — it  trains  the 


8 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


memory  ;  taught  philosophically — that  is,  care  being  taken 
wisely  to  choose  and  properly  to  organize  the  facts — it  yields 
to  no  other  subject  in  mnemonic  value.  It  has  been  said 
;  that  history  is  a  fact  study  ;  it  will  be  shown  hereafter  that 
1  its  facts  are  readily  capable  of  complete  organization  by 
means  of  those  great  associating  activities — time,  place,  and 
cause  and  effect. 

2.  All  that  has  been  urged  concerning  the  memory  will 
be  admitted.  But  that  history  is  an  equally  valuable  disci- 

H  pline  of  the  imagination  has  not  been  as  generally  per- 
'  ceived.  History  is  man-picturing,  as  geography  is  earth- 
picturing.  At  this  point  teachers  and  writers  have  made 
great  mistakes.  Only  too  often  have  they  assumed  that  to 
teach  this  subject  nothing  more  is  necessary  than  to  lodge 
in  the  memory  masses  of  dry  and  unrelated  facts — dates, 
names,  statistics,  and  the  like  ;  whereas,  it  is  rather  reveal¬ 
ing  to  the  mind’s  eye  the  whole  movement  that  constitutes 
the  life  of  a  man,  a  city,  or  a  nation,  or  some  selected  portion 
of  such  movement.  No  mind  can  take  in  such  a  scene  as 
Caesar’s  death,  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  or  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  Maria  Theresa  with  her  youthful  son  before  the 
Hungarian  nobles,  without  the  active  employment  of  his 
imaginative  faculties  ;  and  much  less  such  complicated 
scenes  and  series  of  historical  transactions  as  the  Seven 
Years’  War  or  the  growth  of  the  United  States.  For  this 
purpose  an  active  imagination  is  as  necessary  as  in  painting 
a  battle-scene  on  canvas.  What  power  is  called  for  even  to 
glance  over  the  field  surveyed  by  Gibbon  in  the  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  how  valuable  is  the 
resulting  discipline  !  To  a  pupil  of  a  dull  and  wingless 
mind  the  river  of  time  is  but  a  name,  as  the  Amazon  is 
only  a  line  of  ink  on  a  sheet  of  paper. 

3.  But  history  does  far  more  for  the  mind  than  merely 
to  exercise  the  powers  of  representation  ;  it  is  also  a  valu¬ 
able  discipline  of  the  thinking  faculties. 

_ _  First,  analysis  is  involved  in  the  recognition  of  the  facts 

with  which  we  deal.  Complex  facts  must  be  resolved  into 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY. 


9 


simple  ones.  Many  facts  called  simple  are  really  complex, 
and  must  be  analyzed  before  they  can  be  understood.  Ar¬ 
nold’s  treason  is  a  fact,  but  one  composed  of  many  minor 
facts.  Our  Civil  War  is  a  fact,  but  one  that  sums  up  volumes 
of  history.  History  makes  an  equally  strong  appeal  to  the  i 
faculty  of  comparison  or  judgment.  Events  and  characters  [ 
are  a  constant  challenge  to  the  balancing  power  of  the  mind. 
This  is  strikingly  true  of  such  writings  as  Plutarch’s  Paral¬ 
lel  Lives,  and  also  in  some  degree  of  the  simplest  historical 
compositions.  Then  judgment  passes  into  reasoning  or 
thinking  proper.  Here  the  characteristic  mental  act  is  in¬ 
ference,  or  the  drawing  of  conclusions  from  premises.  If 
the  study  consists  of  the  mere  ,committing  to  .memory  of 
facts,  it  will  do  little  for  any  of  the  logical  powers  ;  but 
studied  philosophically,  due  attention  being  paid  to  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  relations  and  the  criticism  of  method,  it  becomes 
a  noble  exercise  of  thought.  Nicely  to  observe  chrono¬ 
logical  connections  and  geographical  conditions,  carefully  to 
search  out  causes,  is  thinking  no  less  than  solving  mathe¬ 
matical  problems.  This  is  why  Bishop  Stubhs  contends  that 
history  is  a  good  school  of  the  judgment.  Thus,  while  his¬ 
tory  is  primarily  a  fact  study  and  not  a  logical  study,  it  is  by 
no  means  destitute  of  valuable  logical  elements.  The  argu¬ 
ment  on  this  point  can  not,  however,  be  fully  stated,  until 
we  take  account  of  the  nature  of  historical  subject-matter. 

As  remarked  above,  historical  knowledge  is  moral  knowl¬ 
edge.  Mathematical  studies  deal  with  certain  data  and  their 
method  is  demonstration.  They  start  with  definitions  and 
axioms  that  are  intuitively  perceived,  and  proceed  by  neces¬ 
sary  inference  to  inevitable  conclusions.  There  is  no  gath¬ 
ering  of  facts,  no  balancing  of  opposite  arguments,  no  halt¬ 
ing  or  hesitation.  There  can  be  no  looking  at  the  other  side, 
because  there  is  no  other  side.  Uncertainty  is  an  impossible 
state  of  mind.  Very  difPerent  are  the  problems  of  practical 
life,  springing  out  of  the  relations  of  human  beings.  Very 
difi'erent  the  transaction  of  human  business.  Here  we  ac¬ 
cumulate  data,  weigh  the  force  of  opposing  evidence,  recon- 


10 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


cile  contradictory  views,  and  at  last  reach  probable  conclu¬ 
sions.  No  merchant,  manufacturer,  or  ship-owner  can  dem¬ 
onstrate  that  a  given  venture  will  be  successful.  Generals 
can  not  certainly  predict  the  issue  of  battles  and  campaigns ; 
if  they  could,  battles  would  not  be  fought  or  campaigns  be 
waged.  Politicians  are  not  absolutely  sure  that  canvasses 
and  elections  will  turn  out  so  and  so.  And  so  it  is  with  the 
teacher,  the  preacher,  and  the  moralist. 

In  historical  matters  the  process  of  making  up  one’s 
mind  is  a  kind  of  moral  bookkeeping  :  some  items  are  en¬ 
tered  on  the  credit  side  and  some  on  the  debit  side  of  the 
ledger,  and  then  a  balance  is  struck  between  them.  Hence 
it  is  that,  as  one  has  said,  “  the  most  important  gift,  after  all, 
of  a  citizen  in  such  a  profession  as  politics,  or  law,  or  medi¬ 
cine,  or  teaching,  or  war,  is  ability  in  the  selection  of  the 
premises  from  which  the  solution  of  the  various  problems 
of  life  is  to  be  extracted.  In  fact,  soundness  of  judgment 
and  clearness  of  perception  in  collecting  and  arranging  these 
premises  is  a  large  part  of  each  man’s  or  woman’s  work  in 
the  world.’'  The  moral  world  is,  indeed,  governed  by  laws 
fix;ed  and  unalterable  :  what  a  man  sows,  that  he  also  reaps, 
is  the  fundamental  fact ;  but  a  large  majority  of  its  situa¬ 
tions  and  problems,  and  all  its  difficult  ones,  combine  oppo¬ 
site  and  confusing  elements. 

Now,  mathematical  and  scientific  discipline  enables  the 
mind  to  deal  with  those  subjects,  both  numerous  and  im¬ 
portant,  into  which  demonstration  enters,  but  does  not  nec¬ 
essarily  enable  it  to  handle  the  elements  of  probability,  or 
human  questions.  On  the  contrary,  it  may  even  unfit  the 
mind  for  such  work.  As  the  writer  just  quoted  remarks  : 
“The  mathematician’s  data  are  all  provided  for  him  with 
the  utmost  precision,  and  he  is  forbidden  to  add  thereto  or 
take  away  therefrom  one  jot  or  tittle.  Consequently,  it  is 
possible  to  be  a  great  mathematician  indeed,  and  be  at  the 
same  time  a  very  ordinary  person  in  most  other  fields  of 
mental  activity,  and  especially  in  what  may  be  called,  using 
the  term  in  its  largest  sense,  the  transaction  of  human  busi- 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY. 


11 


ness.”  It  has  also  been  said  that  an  exclusive  study  of  bio¬ 
logical  science  “may  incapacitate  one  for  what  is  of  all 
things  most  practical,  namely,  historical  reasoning.”  Hence 
we  must  resort  to  some  other  source  than  mathematics  or 
science  for  this  kind  of  discipline.  And  when  we  remem¬ 
ber  that  historical  knowledge  is  moral  knowledge  ;  that  its 
subject-matter  is  the  doings  of  human  beings  ;  in  a  word, 
that  it  moves  in  the  wide  field  of  freedom  and  so  of  proba¬ 
bility,  we  discover  that  we  have  in  history  the  very  disci¬ 
pline  that  we  need. 

As  the  author  of  several  well-known  historical  text-hooks 
says,  “  The  object  of  teaching  history  is  not  to  cram  with 
facts  and  dates  (useful  and  indeed  necessary  as  these  are), 
but  to  awaken  thought,  and  especially  to  teach  the  habit  of. 
thinking  intelligently  about  the  political  events  of  our  own 
and  other  countries.”  A  second  writer  speaks  of  “that  in¬ 
sight  into  character,  that  training  of  judgment  and  sym¬ 
pathy  to  which  the  detailed  study  of  a  historical  special 
subject  may  help  ”  the  student.  Still  a  third  tells  us  that  his¬ 
tory  embraces  “  to  a  great  extent  the  principles  on  which  the 
every-day  life  of  the  world  around  us  is  being  conducted.” 

But  there  is  even  more  involved  in  the  matter  than  has 
yet  appeared.  To  the  mere  perception  of  an  object — that  is, 
its  recognition  as  present  to  the  mind — apperception  adds 
its  inward  digestion  and  assimilation;  or,  as  one  has  said, 
“We  identify  the  object,  or  those  features  of  it  which  were 
familiar  to  us  before;  we  recognize  it;  we  explain  it;  we 
interpret  the  new  by  our  previous  knowledge,  and  thus  are 
enabled  to  proceed  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  and 
make  new  acquisitions ;  in  recognizing  the  object  we  classify 
it  under  various  general  classes  ;  in  identifying  it  with 
what  we  have  seen  before,  we  note  also  the  differences 
which  characterize  the  new  object,  and  lead  to  the  definition 
of  new  species  or  varieties.”  *  It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate 

*  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris.  Preface  to  A  Text-Book  in  Psychology,  by  Her' 
bart,  International  Education  Series. 


12 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


t]:ie  importance  of  our  present  knowledge  as  a  means  to 
further  acquisition  ;  and  yet  many  teachers  seem  not  to  ap¬ 
preciate,  or  not  fully  to  appreciate,  the  relation  between  the 
two. 

Now,  a  young  person  on  admission  to  the  world  of  man 
is  immersed  in  a  sea  of  facts  wholly  different  in  their  nature 
from  the  facts  of  the  material  world.  They  are  facts  of  the 
human  mind,  facts  of  the  intellect,  and,  what  are  still  more 
difficult,  facts  of  the  sensibility  and  the  will  ;  and  the  most 
important  question  concerning  his  education  is,  How  has 
this  education  prepared  him  for  this  new  world?  Reference 
is  made,  of  course,  to  the  time  when  the  youth  assumes  a 
separate  place  in  the  social  body,  independently  of  parent  or 
tutor.  It  may  be  said  that  this  step  is  progressively  taken, 
and  not  all  at  once  ;  also,  that  antecedent  life  is  the  best 
possible  training  for  work  in  the  new  sphere,  which  is  in 
fact  but  an  extension  of  the  old  sphere  ;  but  the  fact  stOl 
remains  that  the  youth  requires  a  careful  discipline  under 
the  hand  of  a  competent  teacher  in  those  studies  which  look 
immediately  to  social  activities.  And  among  these  studies 
history  must  be  inscribed. 

It  may  be  objected  that  historical  questions  are  not  practi¬ 
cal  questions  ;  that  they  come  from  books  and  documents, 
and  not  from  the  haunts  of  living  men  instinct  with  thought, 
passion,  and  will.  There  is  truth  in  this  view  ;  no  proper 
school  subject  is  just  like  real  life,  while  history  can  be  made 
almost  as  abstract  as  mathematics  itself.  The  reply  is,  that 
no  other  school  subject,  save  possibly  certain  forms  of  litera¬ 
ture,  comes  so  near  to  real  life,  and  that  the  diy  abstractnec3 
so  often  complained  of  is  mainly  the  fault  of  the  author  and 
the  teacher.  If  the  teacher  deals  wnth  human  beings,  and 
not  merely  with  names,  dates,  and  other  items  of  fact,  there 
will  be  no  lack  of  interest.  It  should  also  be  observed  that 
the  fact  just  maintained  is  to  a  degree  a  point  of  advantage. 
Both  history  and  politics  are  great  educative  powei’s,  but 
history  has  this  advantage  over  politics,  that  it  enlists  less 
passion  and  prejudice,  and  so  is  a  better  school  of  the  judg- 


THE  EDL'CATIOXAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY. 


13 


ment.  On  a  similar  ground  Bishop  Stubbs  argues  that 
ancient  and  mediaeval  history  surpass  modern  and  recent 
history  as  such  a  discipline.  And  yet  he  truly  says,  ‘‘  The 
subject-matter  of  modern  historical  inquiry  has  peculiar  ad¬ 
vantages  for  the  training  of  the  powers  most  constantly  in 
exercise  in  a  practical  generation.” 

III.  On  this  division  of  the  subject  a  few  words  will  suf¬ 
fice.  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  tells  us  that  the  great  source  of 
culture  is  the  best  things  that  have  been  thought  and  said. 
Why  not  add,  “  and  done  ”  ?  But  whether  we  include  deeds 
as  well  as  words  and  thoughts  in  the  formula  or  not,  argu¬ 
ment  is  not  necessary  to  show  that  Mstqry  enriches  and 
adorns  the  mind  with  noble  ideas.  Its  natural  affiliations 
are  not  with  mathematics  or  science,  hut  with  literature, 
which  the  great  writer  just  named  considered  the  true  source 
of  culture.  There  is  a  truth  lurking  in  the  Greek  conception 
of  the  Muse  of  History. 

The  idea  that  there  are  studies  which,  on  account  of  their 
peculiar  influence  on  the  mind,  may  appropriately  he  called 
humanity,  or  the  humanities,  originated  in  antiquity.  Says 
Aulus  Gellius:  Humanitas — that  is,  instruction  in  good 
arts,  the  which  whosoever  truly  take  to  and  seek  after  are 
in  very  deed  most  human.  For  the  caring  for  this  knowl¬ 
edge  and  its  discipline  out  of  all  living  things  is  given  to- 
human  beings  only ;  and  therefore  hath  it  been  called  hit- 
manitasy  The  humanities  are  the  man-studies;  they  liber¬ 
alize  the  mind,  freeing  it  from  prejudice,  narrowness,  selfish¬ 
ness.  History  is  one  of  the  group,  and  in  some  aspects  the 
noblest  of  the  group.  “  The  real  use  of  traveling  to  distant 
countries  and  of  studying  the  annals  of  past  times,”  says 
Macaulay,  “  is  to  preserve  men  from  the  contraction  of  mind 
which  those  can  hardly  escape  whose  whole  communion  is 
with  one  generation  and  one  neighborhood,  who  arrive  at 
conclusions  by  means  of  an  induction  not  sufficiently  copi¬ 
ous,  and  who  therefore  constantly  confound  exceptions  with 
rules  and  accidents  with  essential  properties.”  And  again  r 
“The  student,  like  the  tourist,  is  transported  into  a  new 


14 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


state  of  society.  He  sees  new  fashions.  He  hears  new 
models  of  expression.  His  mind  is  enlarged  by  contem¬ 
plating  the  wide  diversities  of  laws,  of  morals,  and  of  man¬ 
ners.  ” 


—  IV.  History  furnishes  motive  power  as  well  as  guidance. 
It  is  oar  or  sail,  and  not  merely  chart  and  rudder.  Men 
who  are  chosen  as  models,  or  who  are  imitated  without  con¬ 
scious  choice,  furnish  impulse  as  well  as  a  pattern  to  those 
who  imitate  them.  This  is  the  great  reason  why  moral  ex¬ 
ample  is  so  effective.  To  the  common  mind,  there  is  far 
more  energy  in  a  man  or  a  life  than  in  an  idea  or  a  creed. 

One  of  the  best  known  forms  of  motive  power  is  the 
patriotic  sentiment  or  love  of  country.  And  it  is  mainly 
at  the  altar  of  history  that  patriotism  feeds  her.  fires.  The 
patriotic  orator  or  poet  indeed  invokes  the  inspiration  of  the 
mountains  and  rivers,  the  vales  and  hills,  the  firesides  and 
battlefields,  of  the  fatherland  or  the  mother  country;  but 
this  is  only  because  these  material  monuments  are  the  im¬ 
perishable  symbols  of  the  deeds  and  thoughts  of  men  that 
are  associated  with  them.  It  was  not  the  plain  of  Marathon 
that  expanded  the  soul  of  Demosthenes,  but  the  generous 
souls  that  perished  there  in  the  tremendous  struggle  that 
Greece  waged  against  the  barbaric  power  of  Asia.  It  is  not 
the  Concord  turf  that  fires  the  heart  and  brain  of  the  patriot, 
nerves  his  will,  strengthens  his  purpose,  or  renews  his  hope, 
but  the  memory  that 


Here  once  the  embattled  farmers  stood 
And  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world. 


As  Mr.  Lincoln  said  at  Gettysburg,  what  the  soldiers  who 
fell  in  that  great  strife  did,  and  not  what  he  or  others  might 
say  about  it,  makes  that  name  immortal.  The  flag,  be  it  the 
Union  Jack,  the  tricolor,  or  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  is  not  the 
piece  of  parti-colored  silk  ;  it  is  the  national  emblem  for 
which  patriots  have  suffered  and  died.  What  charms  the 
traveler  visiting  foreign  countries  is  not  always,  or  perhaps 
commonly,  the  scenery  considered  as  plain  or  valley,  sea  or 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY. 


15 


mountain,  but  the  human  associations  with  which  these  are 
invested.  As  a  great  geographer*  has  said  : 

The  admiration  with  which  travelers  behold  Greece  is  due,  above 
all,  to  the  memories  attaching  to  every  one  of  its  ruins,  the  smallest 
among  its  rivulets,  and  the  most  insignificant  rock  in  its  seas. 
Scenery  in  Provence  or  in  Spain,  though  it  may  surpass  in  grace  or 
boldness  of  outline  anything  to  be  seen  in  Greece,  is  appreciated 
only  by  a  few.  The  mass  go  past  it  without  emotion,  for  names  like 
Marathon,  Leuctra,  or  PlataBa  are  not  connected  with  it,  and  the 
rustle  of  bygone  ages  is  not  heard. 

No  people  were  ever  more  patriotic  than  the  Jews;  with 
them,  love  of  country  has  often  passed  beyond  enthusiasm 
into  fanaticism.  And  what  is  the  cause  of  this  extraordinary 
fervor  ?  Far  more  than  anything  else  it  is  the  stress  laid 
on  the  national  history  as  the  means  of  forming  the  youth¬ 
ful  character.  Not  only  in  the  family  and  in  the  school, 
but  in  the  synagogue,  the  study  of  the  great  poets,  warriors, 
prophets,  and  rulers  of  Israel  has  been  strongly  emphasized. 

Of  late  much  attention  has  been  paid  to  teaching  patriot¬ 
ism  in  the  schools  of  our  country.  The  spectacular  means 
so  frequently  resorted  to  serve  a  certain  purpose,  but  in  thej/^ 
long  run  the  great  means  of  teaching  patriotism  must  bef 
history  and  literature.  Study  of  the  times  that  tried  men’s* 
souls  tends  to  form  souls  that  are  capable  of  enduring  trial. 

Education  should  have  respect  to  all  the  powers  of  the 
mind.  It  should  aim  at  developing  all  the  .faculties  of 
the  perceptive,  representative,  and  reflective  groups.  More 
than  this,  it  should,  as  far  as  practicable,  exercise  them  upon 
subjects  appropriate  to  prepare  them  for  dealing  with  all  the 
great  groups  of  activities.  So  much  wiU  be  admitted,  t 


*  Reclus :  The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants,  vol.  i,  38, 1882. 
t  Discussing  the  points  to  be  aimed  at  in  teaching  history,  Mr.  J.  Wells, 
cf  Wadham  College,  Oxford,  sums  up  as  follows: 

“1.  Of  course,  to  educate  our  children. 

“  2.  To  give  them  some  idea,  so  far  as  possible,  of  their  duties  as  citizens; 
to  make  them,  in  Milton’s  words,  ‘  steadfast  pillars  of  the  state.’ 


18 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  enlarge  upon  the  general  ob- 
servation  that,  if  history  is  made  the  noble  educational  agent 
which  has  been  described,  it  must  be  properly  studied  and 
taught.  But  to  a  single  point  some  remarks  may  be  directed. 

Since  the  elements  of  history  are  facts  to  be  remembered, 
the  student  from  first  to  last  relies  more  upon  his  memory 
than  the  student  of  mathematics  or  the  sciences.  Again'^ 
history  is  the  storehouse  of  human  experience,  the  mirrojt 
of  past  ages.  It  is  therefore  the  typical  study  as  respects 
the  conservative  faculties  of  the  mind  and  the  conservative 
tendencies  of  society.  At  this  point  it  is  that  a  word  of 
caution  needs,  to  be  spoken.  If  the  facts  of  history  are 
taught  simply  or  mainly  to  be  remembered ;  if  the  teacher 
considers  the  pupil’s  mind  only  a  receptacle  to  be  filled ;  if 
the  student’s  sole  ambition  is  “to  know”  a  great  deal  of  his¬ 
tory — then  the  powers  of  analysis,  comparison,  and  infer¬ 
ence  will  be  but  feebly  developed.  Nay,  more;  the  mind 
will  take  on  a  conservative  cast,  facing  backward  rather 
than  forward,  and  so  be  unfitted  for  useful  initiative  in  prac¬ 
tical  afiPairs.  Rightly  studied,  history  has  a  strongly  sober¬ 
ing  effect  upon  the  mind,  in  which  fact  consists  much  of  its 
value ;  taught  as  a  mnemonic  exercise,  it  becomes  a  burden 
and  an  obstacle  to  progress.  No  country  is,  or  perhaps 
can  be,  more  thoroughly  saturated  with  historicalism  than 
China.  “  A  Chinese  memorial,”  it  has  been  said,  “  is  noth¬ 
ing  if  not  historical ;  nor  has  any  argument  a  chance  of 
acceptance  which  is  not  based  upon  precedent.”  What 
China  is,  I  need  not  pause  to  tell.  The  results  are  all  the 
worse  if  history  is  regarded  as  a  necessary  evolution,  in  which 
the  individual  will  counts  for  nothing,  because  history  be¬ 
comes  then  a  bar  to  free  individual  and  social  movement.  . 


“  3.  To  make  them  love  England,  to  use  the  phrase  of  ?\Iaeau]ay,  ‘  as  tlie 
Athenians  loved  the  citv  of  the  violet  crown.’ 

“  4.  To  make  them  interested  in  those  bits  of  Old  England  which  are 
always  round  them  in  buildings,  in  institutions,  in  offices.” — The  Teaching 
of  History  in  Schools^  London,  1892,  16. 


TUE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  HISTORY. 


17 


Germane  to  the  subject  also  is  the  undoubted  fact  that  an 
exclusive  study  of  one’s  own  country,  especially  when  the 
student  is  narrow-minded  to  begin  with,  tends  to  conceit. 
Witness  the  enormous  complacepcy  of  the  Chinese.  Hap¬ 
pily,  an  efficient  corrective  is  furnished  by  general  history, 
and  particularly  by  the  careful  study  of  other  countries. 
Here  comes  in  that  mental  enlargement,  that  acquaintance 
and  sympathy  with  other  lands  and  ages,  which  entitles 
history  to  rank  as  one  of  the  humanities. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  Why  preface  a  book  on  teach¬ 
ing  history  that  is  designed  to  be  practical  with  a  disserta¬ 
tion  on  its  educational  uses  ?  The  question  is  pertinent, 
especially  as  the  answer  will  show  that  the  practical  and  the 
theoretical  can  not  be  separated. 

Dr.  Arnold  said,  “  It  is  clear  that  in  whatever  it  is  our 
duty  to  act,  those  matters  also  it  is  our  duty  to  study.”  The 
teacher’s  function  as  an  instructor  is  determined  by  the  rela¬ 
tions  of  knowledge  to  the  mind,  or  it  is  rather  to  cause  his 
pupil  to  use  knowledge  in  such  a  way  as  to  promote  proper 
mental  growth.  As  a  former  of  minds,  he  has  no  duty  to 
perform  that  is  not  included  in  this  generalization.  That 
the  teacher  may  successfully  prosecute  his  art,  he  must 
know — 

1.  The  activities  of  the  mind,  their  nature  and  relations, 
and  their  respective  values  as  determined  by  the  facts  of  life, 
individual  and  social  ;  or,  in  other  words,  he  must  have  an 
educational  ideal. 

2.  The  varieties  of  knowledge — or,  as  Bacon  called  them, 
the  “  knowledges  ” — and  their  power  to  stimulate  and  form 
the  mind,  in  respect  both  to  quantity  and  quality  ;  or  he 
must  have  worked  out,  partially  at  least,  the  problem  of 
educational  values. 

The  person  who  has  this  knowledge  conjoined  with  skill 
in  bringing  knowledge,  or  the  world,  and  the  mind  into  vital 
relation,  can  successfully  discharge  the  function  of  a  teacher, 
and  only  such  person  can  do  so. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  FIELD  OF  HISTORY. 

References, — Diesterweg.  Spencer,  Carlyle,  and  Macaulay :  same 
references  as  in  previous  chapter ;  Green :  A  Short  History  of  the 
English  People  (author’s  preface  io  the  original  edition,  and  Mrs. 
Green’s  preface  to  the  revised  edition) ;  McMaster :  A  History  of  the 
People  of  the  United  States  (Introduction). 

In  the  broadest  sense,  history  is  the  story  of  man  living 
in  social  relations  in  the  world,  as  traced  in  various  records 
and  memorials.  More  narrowly,  it  is  the  story  of  man  liv¬ 
ing  in  the  higher  social  relations  that  constitute  the  civil 
state  or  civilization.  Dr.  Arnold  calls  history  the  biogra¬ 
phy  of  a  political  society  or  commonwealth,”  meaning  by 
these  terms  a  state. 

The  writer  who  set  the  earliest  copy  of  historical  com¬ 
position  that  has  come  down  to  us,  thus  states  his  purpose  : 
“  This  is  a  publication  of  the  researches  of  Herodotus  of 
Halicarnassus,  in  order  that  the  actions  of  men  may  not  be 
effaced  by  time,  nor  the  great  and  wondrous  deeds  dis¬ 
played  both  by  Greeks  and  Barbarians  deprived  of  renown  ; 
and  among  the  rest,  for  which  cause  they  waged  war  upon 
each  other.”  Here  we  have  the  characteristic  feature  of 
our  subject.  History  deals  with  the  actions  of  men,  in  con¬ 
tradistinction  to  natural  history  that  deals  with  the  facts  of 
vegetable  and  animal  life.  In  this  all  students  are  agreed. 

History  is  divisible  into  two  grand  departments — general 
and  special  history.  The  first  deals  with  man  in  his  broad¬ 
est  relations.  Practically  the  so-called  general  or  universal 
histories  are  all  more  or  less  limited,  being  confined  to  the 


THE  FIELD  OF  HISTORY. 


19 


main  stream  of  human  movement,  to  the  exclusion  of  side 
currents  and  back  waters  ;  but  their  name  implies  that  they 
are  histories  of  the  world.  Special  history,  on  the  other 
hand,  deals  with  man  in  his  narrower  or  particular  rela¬ 
tions.  Works  falling  under  this  division  are  -  occupied  with 
special  countries,  states,  cities,  or  periods,  as  Egypt  and 
Greece,  Athens  and  Prussia,  Rome  and  Venice,  the  Crusades, 
the  Thirty  Years’  War,  and  the  eighteenth  century.  An¬ 
cient,  mediaeval,  and  modern  history  are  but  chronological 
divisions  of  general  history.  On  this  second  point  also  there 
is  a  common  agreement. 

Either  one  of  the  divisions  now  described  may  be  con¬ 
sidered  under  two  aspects.  The  student  or  writer  may  take 
a  broad  view  of  his  subject,  covering  many  difPerent  groups 
of  facts  ;  or  he  may  take  a  narrow  view,  confining  his  atten¬ 
tion  to  some  particular  group  of  facts.  Proceeding  in  the 
first  way,  he  produces  either  a  general  history,  or  a  work 
dealing  with,  some  division  of  it,  as  the  history  of  Europe, 
France,  or  America.  Proceeding  in  the  second  way,  he  pro¬ 
duces  an  ecclesiastical  history,  a  constitutional  history,  a 
military  history,  etc.  Nor  is  there  any  difference  of  opinion 
touching  this  point. 

As  to  the  subject-matter  of  the  special  branches  of  his¬ 
tory,  there  can  be  no  dispute.  The  ecclesiastical  historian  is 
concerned  with  religion  or  the  Church,  the  constitutional 
historian  with  political  institutions,  the  industrial  historian 
with  the  employments  and  occupations  of  men.  But  as  to 
history  in  the  broader  sense — that  is,  universal  history  or 
some  selected  portion  of  it — there  is  a  wide  difference  of 
opinion  and  practice.  All  historians  agree  that  this  consists 
of  the  actions  of  men,  but  all  do  not  agree  upon  the  ques¬ 
tion,  What  actions  ?  This  question  is  so  important  as  to  de¬ 
mand  brief  consideration. 

Living  in  an  age  when  books  were  few,  and  in  a  country 
where  libraries  did  not  exist,  Herodotus  carried  on  his  re¬ 
searches  mainly  by  means  of  travel  and  personal  inquiry, 
and  there  is  almost  as  much  reason  for  calling  him  the 


20 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


father  of  travellers  as  the  father  of  historians.  He  visited 
in  person  the  principal  countries  and  cities  of  which  he 
wrote.  Giving  wide  scope  to  the  phrase  “the  actions  of 
men,”  he  included  in  his  immortal  book  a  varied  selection  of 
information — scientific  theories,  geographical  descriptions, 
religious  rites,  national  and  tribal  manners  and  customs, 
personal  anecdotes,  conversations,  speeches,  and  dialogues, 
as  well  as  facts  relatilig  to  governments,  dynasties,  kings, 
wars,  and  conquests.  This  was  a  conception  of  history  very 
natural  at  a  time  when  the  several  branches  of  literature 
were  but  faintly  differentiated,  and  it  was  obviously  too 
broad  to  be  rnaintainekl  permanently.  Still,  it  was  a  truer 
conception  than  one  that  has  sometimes  obtained  currency 
in  later  times. 

The  subsequent  development  of  historical  composition 
need  not  be  marked  out.  It  suffices  to  say  that  in  time  the 
tendency  to  confine  history  closely  to  the  transactions  of 
government  and  the  doings  of  important  personages  be¬ 
came  strong.  The  court,  the  camp,  and  the  halls  of  state 
now  absorb  the  student’s  principal  attention.  A  great 
writer  of  our  own  times  (Dr.  E.  A.  Freeman)  keyed  his 
historical  writings  to  the  motto,  “  History  is  past  poli¬ 
tics,  politics  present  history.”  This  is  the  governmental 
theory.  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  criticising  history  as 
formerly  taught  in  the  schools  of  England,  and  as  com¬ 
monly  written,  says  it  consists  of  the  biographies  of  mon- 
archs,  court  intrigues,  plots,  usurpations,  and  the  like ; 
and  he  demands  to  be  told  what  it  is  out  of  the  accu¬ 
mulated  details  making  up  the  narrative,  that  helps  one 
in  deciding  on  his  conduct  as  a  citizen.  Lord  Macaulay 
more  tersely  describes  this  view  of  history.  “  Most  peo¬ 
ple,”  he  says,  “seem  to  imagine  that  a  detail  of  public 
occurrences — the  operations  of  sieges,  the  changes  of  ad¬ 
ministration,  the  treaties,  the  conspiracies,  the  rebellions — 
is  a  complete  history.  Historians  have,  almost  without 
exception,  confined  themselves  to  the  public  transactions 
of  states.” 


THE  FIELD  OF  HISTORY. 


21 


This  narrowing  of  the  field  was  due  to  a  variety  of  causes. 
The  term  “  government  ”  sums  up  a  great  number  of  the  im¬ 
portant  actions  of  men.  Government  exemplifies  historical 
continuity  better,  perhaps,  than  any  other  single  fact,  thus 
furnishing  the  best  clew  through  the  tangled  labyrinth  of 
human  affairs,  and  in  its  successions  and  divisions  furnishes 
a  good  chronological  scheme  for  the  organization  of  histor¬ 
ical  material.  The  Greeks  counted  time  by  Olympiads,  but 
the  Egyptians  referred  events  to  reigns  and  dynasties,  the 
Romans  to  consular  terms,  and  modern  peoples  have  often 
followed  the  Roman  and  Egyptian  examples.  Battles  and 
wars  are  important  in  themselves,  and  are  also  among  the 
rhost  striking  and  exciting  of  historical  events.  Emperors, 
kings,  generals,  and  other  great  people  rather  than  the 
multitude,  arrest  the  attention  of  the  common  observer  ;  and 
w^here  monarchical  ideas  prevail,  or  hero  worship  abounds, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  historians  should  assign  to  them  an 
exaggerated  importance.  Finally,  the  ever-widening  field  of 
human  actions  practically  compels  a  limitation  of  the  his¬ 
torian’s  view. 

The  conception  of  history  that  is  now  most  current  in 
English-speaking  countries  assigns  large  room  to  the  popular 
element.  It  originated  in  democratic  ideas,  and  it  gives  the 
first  place  to  the  people  or  the  nation.  Writing  to  one  of 
his  correspondents  about  his  History  previous  to  its  pub¬ 
lication,  Lord  Macaulay  said  he  should  not  be  satisfied  un¬ 
less  he  produced  something  which  should  for  a  few  days 
supersede  the  last  fashionable  novel  on  the  tables  of  young 
ladies.  And  this  he  actually  did.  His  biographer  tells  us 
that  ‘‘  at  Dukinfield,  near  Manchester,  a  gentleman  w  ho 
thought  that  there  would  be  a  certain  selfishness  in  keeping 
so  great  a  pleasure  to  himself,  invited  his  poorer  neighbors 
to  attend  every  evening  after  their  work  was  finished,  and 
read  the  History  aloud  to  them  from  beginning  to  end.  At 
the  close  of  the  last  meeting  one  of  the  audience  rose,  and 
moved,  in  north-country  fashion,  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr. 
Macaulay  for  having  written  a  history  which  workingmen 


22 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


can  understand.”*  It  is  easy  to  point  out  serious  defects  in 
The  History  of  England  from  the  Accession  of  James  11., 
but  no  one  can  deny  that  it  is  both  eminently  instructive 
and  eminently  readable.  It  is  equally  easy  to  tell  how  its 
author  produces  his  magical  efPects. 

First,  he  is  a  master  story-teller.  For  the  art  of  narra¬ 
tion  he  was  admirably  fitted  both  by  nature  and  by  train¬ 
ing.  But,  secondly — and  this  is  more  to  the  present  purpose 
— Macaulay  selects  his  facts  with  the  utmost  care  according 
to  a  certain  theory.  He  tells  us  that  the  two  rulers  of  this 
province  of  literature  are  reason  and  imagination  ;  that  it  is 
a  combination  of  the  novel  and  the  essay,  a  compound  of 
poetry  and  philosophy  ;  and  gives  us  to  understand  that 
the  perfect  historian,  at  least  of  England,  would  be  a  com¬ 
pound  of  Mr.  Hallam  and  Sir  Walter  Scott.  He  exclaims 
against  that  false  dignity  or  majesty  of  history — those  ab¬ 
surd  conventional  decencies — that  rob  the  historian  of  many 
of  his  most  valuable  materials.  He  thinks  that  the  historian’s 
business  is  to  depict  the  national  life.  He  sees  the  place  that 
government  holds  in  the  world,  hut  also  the  place  that  the 
people  hold.  The  perfect  historian  “  shows  us  the  court, 
the  camp,  and  the  senate.  But  he  shows  us  also  the  nation. 
He  considers  no  anecdote,  no  peculiarity  of  manner,  no 
familiar  saying,  as  too  insignificant  for  his  notice,  which  is 
not  too  insignificant  to  illustrate  the  operation  of  laws,  of 
religion,  and  of  education,  and  to  mark  the  progress  of  the 
human  mind.  Men  will  not  merely  be  described,  but  will 
be  made  intimately  known  to  us.  The  changes  of  manners 
will  be  indicated,  not  merely  by  a  few  general  phrases,  or  a 
few  extracts  from  statistical  documents,  hut  by  appropriate 
images  presented  in  every  line.” 

A  later  English  writer — one  of  whom  it  was  said  that  he 
had  rediscovered  the  lost  art  of  historical  composition  ;  one 
whose  best  known  work  reached  in  a  few  years  its  one  hun¬ 
dredth  edition — carried  Macaulay’s  central  thought  still  fur- 


♦  Trevelyan :  Life  and  Letters  of  Lord  Macaulay,  N.  Y.,  ii,  207. 


THE  FIELD  OF  HISTORY. 


23 


ther.  Definir  g  the  aim  of  his  Short  History  of  the  English 
People,  Mr.  J.  K.  Green  wrote  in  his  preface  : 

The  aim  of  the  following  work  is  defined  by  its  title :  it  is  a 
history,  not  of  English  kings  or  English  conquests,  but  of  the  Eng¬ 
lish  People.  At  the  risk  of  sacrificing  much  that  was  interesting 
and  attractive  in  itself,  and  which  the  constant  usage  of  our  his¬ 
torians  has  made  familiar  to  English  readers,  I  have  preferred  to 
pass  lightly  and  briefly  over  the  details  of  foreign  wars  and  diploma¬ 
cies,  the  personal  adventures  of  kings  and  nobles,  the  pomp  of 
courts,  or  the  intrigues  of  favorites,  and  to  dwell  at  length  on  the 
incidents  of  that  constitutional,  intellectual,  and  social  advance  in 
which  we  read  the  history  of  the  nation  itself.  It  is  with  this  pur¬ 
pose  that  I  have  devoted  more  space  to  Chaucer  than  to  Cressy,  to 
Caxton  than  to  the  petty  strife  of  Yorkist  and  Lancastrian,  to  the 
Poor  Law  of  Elizabeth  than  to  her  victory  at  Cadiz,  to  the  Metho¬ 
dist  revival  than  to  the  escape  of  the  Young  Pretender. 

It  has  been  said  of  Mr.  Green  : 

However  Gibbon  might  err  in  massing  together  his  social  facts 
in  chapters  apart,  however  inadequate  Hume’s  attempts  at  social 
history  might  be,  however  Macaulay  might  look  at  social  facts 
merely  as  bits  of  external  ornament,  they  all,  he  maintained,  pro¬ 
fessed  the  faith  he  held.  He  used  to*  protest  that  even  those  Eng¬ 
lish  historians  who  desired  to  be  merely  “  external  and  pragmatic,” 
could  not  altogether  reach  their  aim  as  though  they  had  been  “  High 
Dutchmen.”  The  free  course  of  national  life  in  England  was  too 
strong  to  allow  them  to  become  ever  wholly  lost  in  state  papers.* 

Mr.  J.  B.  McMaster  is  writing  his  popular  work,  A  His¬ 
tory  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  on  similar  lines. 
His  opening  paragraph  defines  his  plan. 

The  subject  of  my  narrative  is  the  history  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  of  America  from  the  close  of  the  war  for  independ¬ 
ence  down  to  the  opening  of  the  war  between  the  States.  In  the 
course  of  this  narrative  much,  indeed,  must  be  written  of  wars,  con¬ 
spiracies,  and  rebellions ;  of  Presidents,  of  Congresses,  of  embassies, 


*  Mrs.  Green’s  Preface  to  the  Revised  Edition. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


24 

of  treaties,  of  the  ambition  of  political  leaders  in  jhe  senate  house, 
and  of  the  rise  of  great  parties  in  the  nation.  Yet  the  history  of 
the  people  shall  be  the  chief  theme.  At  every  stage  of  the  splendid 
progress  which  separates  the  America  of  Washington  and  Adams 
from  the  America  in  which  we  live,  it  shall  be  my  purpose  to  de¬ 
scribe  the  dress,  the  occupations,  the  amusements,  the  literary  can¬ 
ons  of  the  times ;  to  note  the  changes  of  manners  and  morals ;  to 
trace  the  growth  of  that  humane  spirit  which  abolished  punishment 
for  debt,  which  reformed  the  discipline  of  prisons  and  of  jails,  and 
which  has,  in  our  own  time,  destroyed  slavery  and  lessened  the  mis¬ 
eries  of  dumb  brutes. 

Carlyle  clearly  discerned  the  imperfection  of  the  govern^ 
mental  theory,  and  saw  that  the  time  had  come  for  a  ch.ange 
on  the  part  of  the  historian. 

From  of  old  it  was  too  often  to  be  reproachfully  observed  of 
him  that  he  dwelt  with  disproportionate  fondness  in  senate  houses, 
in  battlefields,  nay,  even  in  kings’  antechambers ;  forgetting  that 
far  away  from  such  scenes  the  mighty  tide  of  thought  and  action 
was  still  rolling  on  its  wondrous  course,  in  gloom  and  brightness ; 
and  in  its  thousand  remote  valleys,  a  whole  world  of  existence  with 
or  without  an  earthly  sun  of  happiness  to  warm  it,  with  or  without 
a  heavenly  sun  of  holiness  to  purify  and  sanctify  it,  was  blossoming 
and  fading,  whether  the  ‘  famous  victory  ’  were  won  or  lost.  The 
time  seems  coming  when  much  of  this  must  be  amended ;  and  he 
who  sees  no  world  but  that  of  courts  and  camps,  and  writes  only 
how  soldiers  were  drilled  and  shot,  and  how  this  ministerial  con¬ 
jurer  outconjured  that  other,  and  then  guided  or  at  least  held 
something  which  he  called  the  rudder  of  government,  but  which 
was  rather  the  spigot  of  taxation,  wherewith,  in  place  of  steering,  he 
could  tap,  the  more  cunningly  the  nearer  the  lees — will  pass  for 
a  more  or  less  instructive  gazetteer,  but  will  no  longer  be  called  a 
historian. 

No  doubt  the  democratic  theory  of  history  may  be  oyer- 
done  ;  but  those  who  are  in  touch  with  the  modern  spirit 
are  little  likely  to  question  that  it  is  a  much  truer  theory 
than  the  one  that  limits  the  field  to  a  mere  detail  of  public 
transactions.  Still,  it  must  be  said  that  the  history  of 


THE  FIELD  OF  HISTORY. 


25 


different  countries  is  by  no  means  composed  of  the  same  ele¬ 
ments.  In  some  the  master  factors  are  the  king  and  the  gov¬ 
ernment,  in  others  .the  people  themselves.  Sometimes  the 
sphere  of  the  state  is  so  enlarged  that  nearly  all  the  most 
important  actions  of  men  are  public  occurrences  ;  again,  the 
people  are  most  prominent  in  initiating  and  carrying  on 
many  of  the  most  important  interests  of  society.  Of  course, 
such  differences  must  appear  in  history.  Contrast  the  civ¬ 
ilizations  of  Egypt  and  Assyria  with  those  of  Greece  and 
Kome.  In  the  Eastern  nations  everything  is  uniform  and 
monotonous  ;  men  move  before  us  on  the  historic  page  a 
dumb  and  lifeless  herd,  without  individual  or  personal  char¬ 
acter.  Despots  of  unlimited  power  rule  over  men  in  brute 
masses,  but  there  is  in  our  sense  no  national  life  and  no  peo¬ 
ple.  There  are  conquerors  and  lawgivers,  but  no  statesmen 
or  politics  as  we  understand  statesmanship  and  politics.  In 
Europe  all  this  is  very  different.  The  moment  we  cross  the 
Bosporus  or  the  Mediterranean  the  scene  changes  :  there 
are  a  people,  a  public  life,  statesmen,  politicians,  and  orators  ; 
government  is  carried  on  by  modern  methods — that  is,  by  ar¬ 
gument  and  persuasion  ;  we  see  somebody  besides  the  king. 
In  Athens,  Socrates  teaches  in  the  market  place  ;  JEschy- 
lus  and  Sophocles  write  for  the  theatres  that  are  thronged 
with  people  ;  Pericles  comes  in  the  room  of  Pharaoh.  Mod¬ 
ern  history  really  began  in  Greece.  Or  consider  the  civiliza¬ 
tion  of  France  and  England.  In  France  the  government, 
in  addition  to  conducting  the  civil  and  military  administra¬ 
tion,  patronizes  art,  science,  and  literature,  and  provides 
public  works  on  a  vast  scale,  while  in  England  these  latter 
interests  have  been  largely  left,  though  by  no  means  wholly 
so,  to  the  energy  of  voluntary  individual  and  co-operative 
enterprise.  A  French  writer  could  not  find  as  large  a  theme 
in  a  History  of  the  French  People  as  Mr.  Green  found  in 
England  or  as  Mr.  McMaster  finds  in  America.  The  con¬ 
clusion  is,  that  histories  of  different  countries,  if  weU  writ¬ 
ten,  wiU  combine  the  governmental  and  the  popular  ele¬ 
ment  in  quite  different  proportions.  For  example,  the 
4 


26 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


French  colonies  of  America  from  the  first  were  children  of 
power  and  patronage,  and  so  grew  up  dependent  and  almost 
helpless  ;  the  English  colonies,  on  the  other  hand,  planted 
by  voluntary  efforts  and  left  very  largely  to  themselves, 
grew  up  vigorous  and  independent.  The  place  that  is  occu¬ 
pied  by  the  government  in  the  one  instance  is  occupied  by 
the  people  in  the  other. 

Still  another  difficulty  should  be  noted.  It  is  not  practi¬ 
cable  to  make  the  history  that  is  taught  in  common  schools 
very  broad  or  discursive.  There  must  be  a  pretty  strict 
limitation  of  matter.  This  point  will  be  more  fully  con¬ 
sidered  when  we  come  to  deal  with  the  choice  of  facts  ;  but 
it  is  pertinent  to  observe  here  that,  after  the  preliminary 
stage  is  passed,  the  story  of  the  government,  or  the  record  of 
public  transactions,  must  constitute  the  backbone  of  what 
is  taught,  at  least  until  the  differentiated  work  of  the  college 
is  reached.  Still,  the  social  aspects  of  history  should  by  no 
means  be  overlooked  in  the  common  school. 


CHAPTER  III. 


SOURCES  OP  INFORMATION. 

References. — Adams :  A  Manual  of  Historical  Literature  (the 
bibliographies) ;  H.  B.  Adams  and  others  :  Johns  Hopkins  Universi¬ 
ty  Studies,  Eighth  Series,  XI.,  XII.  (Seminary  Notes  on  Recent  His¬ 
torical  Literature) ;  White  :  Papers  of  the  Historical  Association,  I., 
No.  II.  (On  Studies  in  General  History  and  the  History  of  Civiliza¬ 
tion)  ;  Hart :  The  Academy,  II.  (A  List  of  General  Readings  in  the 
History  of  the  United  States) ;  Hall ;  Methods  of  Teaching  History 
(the  bibliographies) ;  Gordy  and  Twitchell :  A  Pathfinder  of  Ameri¬ 
can  History  (numerous  lists  of  well-selected  books) ;  Davidson : 
Reference  History  of  the  United  States ;  Barnes :  Studies  in  Gen¬ 
eral  History,  Studies  in  Greek  and  Roman  History,  Studies  in 
American  History,  also  Teachers’  Manuals  and  Aids ;  Heilprin  : 
Historical  Reference-Book. 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  teachers  who  are  teach¬ 
ing  history  in  the  schools  of  the  country  command  such 
slender  resources.  Those  who  are  thus  employed  in  the  dis¬ 
trict  schools  and  in  the  elementary  grades  of  the  towns  and 
cities,  it  is  to  be  feared,  have  commonly  derived  their  knowl¬ 
edge  whoUy  or  mainly  from  the  text-hooks  that  they  use, 
and  perhaps  one  or  two  similar  books  besides.  Nor  is  the 
equipment  of  high -school  teachers  by  any  means  all  that  we 
could  desire.  No  doubt  there  are  many  capable  teachers  in 
both  kinds  of  schools.  The  general  subject  of  the  teacher’s 
qualifications  will  be  dealt  with  in  another  place  ;  but  it  is 
desirable  to  describe  here  the  principal  sources  of  knowl¬ 
edge  with  which  the  ideal  teacher  must  be  more  or  less 
familiar,  and  also  to  offer  such  practical  remarks  as  can  he 
made  with  most  effect. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


I.  To  begin  at  the  teacher’s  desk,  text-books  of  history 
may  first  be  mentioned.  Such  books  are  commonly  only 
compilations  from  larger  works,  but  they  demand  special 
attention  because  they  are  prepared  with  special  reference  to 
the  needs  of  the  school  and  of  the  pupils.  That  the  teacher 
should  thoroughly  know  the  book  in  daily  use  does  not  need 
to  be  argued,  but  it  does  need  to  be  emphasized.  More  than 
this,  the  teacher  should  also  know  quite  familiarly  a  few 
other  text-books  dealing  with  the  same  subject,  two  or  three 
at  least.  The  advantages  of  such  familiarity  are,  that  a 
wider  view  of  the  subject  may  be  obtained,  and  that  differ¬ 
ent  ways  of  putting  things  may  be  studied  ;  or,  if  the  topical 
method  is  pursued,  the  teacher  assigning  topics  and  sending 
the  pupils  to  the  library,  the  teacher  should  be  acquainted 
with  the  authorities  that  the  pupils  resort  to  for  informa¬ 
tion. 

No  text-books  now  used  in  schools,  when  compared  with 
those  in  use  a  generation  ago,  show  greater  improvement 
than  books  in  history.  Such  books  as  Gardiner’s,  Myers’s, 
Montgomery’s,  and  Johnston’s  were  not  then  in  existence. 
It  may  also  be  said,  for  the  further  encouragement  of 
teachers,  that  still  greater  improvement  may  be  ex¬ 
pected. 

II.  The  next  class  of  books  to  be  mentioned  consists  of 
the  larger  historical  works  that  cover  the  same  ground  as 
the  text-books.  Text-books  are  nothing  but  outlines,  and  can 
be  nothing  else — skeletons,  with  a  little  fiesh  and  blood  and 
life ;  and  the  teacher  will  never  understand  the  bearings  of 
a  subject  so  that  he  can  fully  explain  it,  and  much  less  pos¬ 
sess  a  sufficient  fund  for  illustration  and  expansion,  if  he  is 
wholly  dependent  upon  them.  To  consult  several  such 
books  will  not  suffice,  although  that  is  a  great  advantage. 
They  are  always  more  or  less  dry  and  confined,  while  the 
teacher  should  know  something  of  the  freedom  which  the 
author  shows  who  is  not  limited  to  a  fixed  number  of 
pages.  For  a  teacher  of  American  history  who  holds  a 
practically  permanent  position,  and  so  has  opportunity  for 


SOURCES  OF  INFOKMATIOX. 


29 


self-improvement,  to  be  ignorant  of  Bancroft,  Hildreth,  Me- 
Master,  and  Schouler  should  be  counted  a  disgrace.  More 
than  this,  he  should  have  read,  volume  hy  volume,  Fiske’s 
Discovery  of  America,  The  American  Revolution,  and  The 
Critical  Period  of  American  History,  and  Parkman’s  ad¬ 
mirable  series,  France  and  England  in  North  America.  He 
should  he  cognizant  of  some  of  the  more  valuable  works 
devoted  to  particular  sections  of  the  country,  as  Palfrey’s 
History  of  New  England,  and  to  particular  periods,  as 
Adams’s  History  of  the  United  States. 

Of  the  numerous  histories  of  the  Civil  War  no  one  stands 
out  with  marked  prominence.  For  the  political  side,  per¬ 
haps  Greeley’s  American  Conflict  is  as  good  as  any ;  while 
for  the  military  side,  the  series  of  volumes  called  The  Cam¬ 
paigns  of  the  Civil  War  may  be  recommended. 

Here  it  may  be  observed  that  no  teacher  should  attempt 
to  deal  comprehensively  with  the  Civil  War,  or  indeed  with 
any  series  of  military  operations  that  are  to  be  treated  some¬ 
what  in  detail,  without  first  forming  a  conspectus  of  the 
whole.  This  requires  much  patient  study  and  much  exer¬ 
cise  of  the  imagination.  As  an  aid,  Colonel  T.  A.  Dodge’s 
Bird’s-Eye  View  of  Our  Civil  War  can  be  highly  recom¬ 
mended.  If  the  title  does  not  sufficiently  explain  the  char¬ 
acter  of  this  admirable  work,  these  sentences  may  be  quoted 
from  the  introduction :  “  The  principal  military  events  are 
herein  grouped  in  such  sequence  that  a  careful  reading,  with 
maps  before  you,  will  yield  you  a  fair  knowledge  of  what 
modem  war  is,  and  what  our  Civil  War  was.  .  .  .  My  aim  has 
been  to  give  the  layman  a  clear  idea  of  the  war  as  a  military 
whole,  paying  no  heed  to  individual  heroism,  nor  dwelling 
upon  the  war  as  a  spectacle.”  While  a  book  of  this  descrip¬ 
tion  is  not  properly  a  history  of  the  war,  it  can  not  fail  to  be 
of  great  service  to  a  student  or  teacher  who,  having  looked 
at  the  war  as  a  spectacle,  filled  his  mind  with  facts,  and  ob¬ 
served  sufficient  instances  of  individual  heroism,  is  thereby 
fitted  to  form  a  conspectus.  Manifestly,  such  a  book  is  not 
a  proper  one  to  put  into  the  hands  of  a  student  first  taking 


30 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


up  the  subject,  unless,  indeed,  he  is  a  person  having  much 
knowledge  of  history  and  mental  discipline. 

III.  History  teaching  in  elementary  schools,  and  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  high  schools,  should  bear  heavily  on 
biography.  Facts  about  a  man  arouse  more  interest  and 
enthusiasm  in  pupils,  and  particularly  in  young  pupils,  than 
facts  about  a  community  or  state ;  while  for  many  purposes 
historical  characters  are  the  very  best  centers  about  which  to 
group  facts.  A  good  life  of  Washington  is  almost  a  com¬ 
plete  history  of  the  Revolution ;  a  good  life  of  Lincoln,  of  the 
Civil  W ar.  Besides,  such  a  life,  and  especially  one  of  Lincoln, 
since  he  was  the  more  original  character,  contains  elements 
of  interest  that  an  ordinary  history  does  not  contain.  But 
the  value  of  history  in  men  has,  perhaps,  been  sufficiently 
emphasized  on  previous  pages.  Still,  it  is  important  to  ob¬ 
serve  that  the  teacher’s  biographical  reading  should  not  be 
confined  to  men  in  public  life,  statesmen,  and  soldiers ;  busi¬ 
ness  men,  scholars,  moral  and  religious  reformers,  men  of 
letters,  men  of  science,  discoverers,  and  inventors,  not  only 
stand  for  invaluable  elements  of  the  national  life,  but  they 
also  furnish  as  instructive  and  healthful  reading  as  boys  and 
girls  can  have.  Many  men  who  have  exercised  far-reaching 
influence  were  never  in  public  life  at  all — Fulton,  Whitney, 
Morse,  Garrison,  Emerson,  Agassiz,  Ericsson,  and  many  more. 
Mention  may  be  made  of  diaries,  autobiographies,  and  mem¬ 
oirs,  which  have  an  interest  and  charm  in  themselves.  Per¬ 
haps  no  books  relating  to  the  Civil  War  are  more  valuable 
than  the  personal  memoirs  of  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheri¬ 
dan. 

Many  series*  of  English  and  American  books  may  be 

*  We  are  living  in  an  age  of  series.  History,  art,  science,  literature,  and 
religion  are  set  before  the  public  in  an  endless  array  of  monograph -groups. 
Whatever  the  disadvantages  of  the  fashion,  it  has  a  distinct  aesthetic  signifi¬ 
cance.  The  dainty  series  is  to  the  ponderous  fourteen-volume  history  as  a 
French  cook’s  masterpiece  to  a  Virginia  barbecue.  There  may  be  more 
nourishment  in  the  latter,  but  an  appreciation  of  the  former  denotes  the 
more  refined  palate. —  The  Political  Science  Quarterly^  vol.  f,  jp.  54> 


SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION. 


31 


mentioned  that  illustrate  these  observations.  English  Men 
of  Action,  English  Men  of  Letters,  Twelve  English  States¬ 
men,  Rulers  of  India,  The  Queen’s  Prime  Ministers.  Ameri¬ 
can  Statesmen,  American  Men  of  Letters,  American  Religious 
Leaders,  Great  American  Commanders,  etc.  The  Questions 
of  the  Day  Series  also  contain  some  good  studies  that  will 
be  useful  to  the  teacher  of  history. 

Both  the  volumes  making  up  these  series  and  the  series 
themselves  are  of  quite  unequal  merit.  Many  of  them  have 
a  very  high  literary  value.  As  contributions  to  American 
history,  nearly  all  the  Statesmen  volumes  may  be  strongly 
recommended.  This  is  not  because  that,  either  singly  or 
collectively,  they  have  added  materially  to  historical  knowl¬ 
edge,  but  because  they  bring  together  important  facts  and 
group  them  around  leading  actors,  thus  adding  to  history 
the  peculiar  interest  of  biography.  As  most  of  the  series 
mentioned  are  incomplete,  the  number  of  volumes  is  not 
given.  Names  of  publishers  and  prices  are  readily  obtain¬ 
able. 

IV.  Books  of  a  different  class  should  have  due  mention. 
Historical  scholarship  tends  strongly,  as  does  scholarship  in 
other  branches  of  learning,  to  the  production  of  works  sum¬ 
ming  up  the  salient  features  of  the  subject  in  single  volumes 
of  convenient  size,  many  of  which  are  adapted  both  to 
scholars  and  to  general  readers.  Green’s  Short  History  of 
the  English  People,  save  that  it  is  rather  large,  is  an  excel¬ 
lent  example  of  this  kind  of  book.  Bryce’s  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  while  in  no  sense  a  popular  book  like  Green’s  His¬ 
tory,  may  also  be  mentioned.  Seeley’s  Expansion  of,  Eng¬ 
land  handles  an  important  subject  in  an  engaging  way. 
Lodge’s  Short  History  of  the  English  Colonies  belongs  to 
the  same  class  of  works.  Higginson’s  and  Johnston’s  single 
volumes  are  the  best  ones  treating  of  the  United  States.  It 
may  be  observed  that  a  good  two- volume  history  of  our 
country  is  a  desideratum. 

V.  Of  a  somewhat  different  character  are  the  various  se¬ 
ries  of  volumes,  known  both  by  general  and  special  titles,  that 


32 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


deal  with  the  striking  epochs  or  phases  of  connected  histor¬ 
ical  subjects.  Such  books  often  present  in  a  clear  manner 
the  subjects  with  which  they  deal ;  they  may  be  read  to  ad¬ 
vantage  as  single  works,  or  in  connection  with  the  other 
volumes  of  the  series  as  sections  or  chapters  of  a  continu¬ 
ous  work.  Many  such  series  have  been  produced,  or  are  in 
course  of  production,  in  England.  Mention  may  be  made 
of  the  following -^Epochs  of  English  History,  Epochs  of 
Modern  History,  Epochs  of  Ancient  History,  Epochs  of 
Church  History.  The  Epochs  of  American  History  and  The 
American  History  Series  are  weU-known  examples  of  simi¬ 
lar  American  hooks. 

VI.  A  knowledge  of  constitutional  and  municipal  law, 
religion,  science,  art,  literature,  moral  reform,  and  many 
other  subjects  are  necessary  to  the  full  illumination  of  his¬ 
tory.  It  is  very  true  that  when  general  history  is  prop¬ 
erly  written,  it  includes  much  of  this  knowledge.  But  spe¬ 
cial  works  have  the  advantage  of  bringing  attention  to  a 
special  class  of  facts,  and  of  permitting  a  more  scientific 
treatment  than  is  attainable  in  works  of  a  general  character. 
Such  books  as  Cairnes’s  The  Slave  Power,  Cooley’s  Princi¬ 
ples  of  Constitutional  Law,  Curtis’s  History  of  the  Constitu¬ 
tion,  De  Tocqueville’s  Democracy  in  America,  Bryce’s  Amer¬ 
ican  Commonwealth,  Taussig’s  Tariff  History  of  the  United 
States,  Sumner’s  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  and 
Johnston’s  American  Politics,  may  be  given  as  examples. 
Valuable  articles  on  such  subjects  are  often  found  in  the 
magazines  and  quarterlies.  Mention  may  also  be  made  of 
the  cyclopaedias,  and  particularly  of  Lalor’s  Cyclopaedia  of 
Political  Science,  Political  Economy,  and  United  States  His¬ 
tory. 

VII.  Treatises,  dissertations,  monographs,  and  essays  de¬ 
voted  to  special  aspects  or  elements  of  history.  Not  only  is 
history  a  very  important  factor  in  various  studies  that  are 
not  grouped  under  the  head  of  historical,  as  political  philoso¬ 
phy,  constitutional  law,  and  social  science,  but  these  sciences 
throw  important  light  upon  history.  In  his  Economical 


SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION. 


33 


Interpretation  of  History,  Professor  Rogers  illustrates  this 
at  much  length,  showing,  for  instance,  how  commerce, 
manufactures,  and  agricultural  productions  have  exercised 
a  profound  influence  upon  the  history  of  domestic  politics, 
diplomacy,  and  war.  Mr.  W.  B.  Weeden  has  written  his 
Economical  and  Social  History  of  New  England,  1620-1789, 
for  a  similar  purpose.  He  tells  us  that  “  Economy,  the  daily 
order  of  living  and  fellowship,  are  homely  elements  which 
are  coming  to  he  recognized  as  potent  factors  in  the  large 
drama  of  history.” 

VHI.  Books  devoted  to  minor  political  communities 
should  not  be  omitted.  Many  State  histories  are  worthless, 
or  nearly  so ;  others  are  excellent ;  and  while  local  histories 
as  a  class  contain  a  vast  amount  of  rubbish,  there  are  few  of 
them  that  have  not  some  good  material.  State  and  local 
histories  commonly  abound  in  anecdote,  story,  and  incident; 
to  which  it  may  be  added  that  local  history  has  its  own 
peculiar  educational  value.  Of  State  histories.  The  Com¬ 
monwealth  Series  deserves  particular  mention.  These  vol¬ 
umes  do  not  propose  to  give  in  detail  the  formal  annals  of 
each  member  of  the  Union,  but  “  to  sketch  rapidly  and 
forcibly  the  lives  of  those  States  which  have  had  marked  in¬ 
fluence  upon  the  structure  of  the  nation,  or  have  embodied  in 
their  formation  and  growth  principles  of  American  polity.” 
While  the  different  States  of  the  Union  have  much  in  com¬ 
mon,  many  of  them  present  striking  differences,  and  so  illus¬ 
trate  different  lessons. 

Something  more  may  fairly  be  said  about  local  history. 
“  The  old-fashioned  town  histories  are  mines  of  crude  his¬ 
toric  ore,”  says  Mr.  Weeden,  “while  the  actual  records  of 
the  early  time  now  being  reproduced  are  invaluable.”  But, 
more  than  this,  the  student  of  local  history  has  an  advantage 
similar  to  that  enjoyed  by  the  botanist  or  biologist  who  puts 
a  small  section  of  the  organism  that  he  wishes  to  study  under 
his  microscope.  There  is  a  great  advantage  attending  look¬ 
ing  at  history  in  petto.  Some  years  ago  I  read  with  deep 
interest  the  section  of  an  ill-put- together  town  history,  en- 


34 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


titled  The  American  Revolution.  The  town  was  Torring- 
ton,  Conn.  Here  were  quotations  from  the  town  records, 
muster  rolls  of  the  militia  companies,  orders  for  drafts,  requi¬ 
sitions  for  supplies,  reports  from  the  seat  of  war,  lists  of 
killed  and  wounded,  etc.,  interspersed  with  some  incident, 
anecdote,  or  personal  characterization.  Following  the  tax- 
gatherer  on  his  rounds;  reading  the  frequent  calls  for  sol¬ 
diers  and  orders  for  the  militia  to  turn  out;  observing  the 
women  at  their  heavy  tasks,  spinning  wool  and  weaving 
flax,  making  blankets  and  tents  for  the  army,  and  often 
gathering  the  crops  or  making  the  maple  sugar ;  scanning 
the  hard  bill  of  domestic  fare,  breakfast  without  tea  and 
dinner  without  salt — I  formed  a  more  realistic  view  than 
before  of  the  times  that  tried  men’s  souls.  And  this  suggests 
the  reflection  that  division,  brigade,  and  regimental  histories 
supply  interesting  elements  in  the  history  of  warfare  that 
are  not  found  in  general  history  at  all,  or  not  in  much 
abundance. 

IX.  From  even  a  summary  view  of  historical  apparatus 
graphical  representations  can  not  be  omitted.  Such  appli¬ 
ances  are  even  more  necessary  in  studying  history  than  in 
studying  the  existing  state  of  things  in  the  world.  How 
could  historical  geography  be  taught  without  historical 
maps  ?  As  Dr.  Freeman  says :  When  a  certain  name  as 
applied  to  a  country  conveys  the  idea  of  a  certain  state  of 
things  in  that  country,  to  apply  that  name  to  it  at  a  time 
when  that  state  of  things  did  not  exist,  at  once  conveys  a 
false  impression ;  it  suggests  that  the  state  of  things  which 
the  name  implies  existed  at  a  time  when  it  did  not  exist.” 
To  carry  back  into  historic  times  the  present  meaning  of 
geographical  names  is  what  the  same  writer  calls  “bond¬ 
age  to  the  modern  map.” 

In  nothing  does  the  historical  student  of  to-day  enjoy  a 
greater  advantage  over  the  student  of  former  days,  and  even 
of  a  few  years  ago,  than  in  respect  to  historical  geography, 
and  particularly  in  respect  to  historical  maps.  Bondage  to 
the  modern  map  is  now  a  voluntary  and  not  a  compulsory 


SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION. 


35 


servitude.  Almost  every  new  book  dealing  with  an  histor¬ 
ical  subject  in  a  broad  way  contains  one  or  more  maps; 
while  many  books,  and  especially  those  dealing  with  mili¬ 
tary  operations,  have  a  “  pocket  ”  of  maps.  Good  wall  maps 
for  the  library  and  the  classroom  are  comparatively  inex¬ 
pensive.  Historical  atlases  are  produced  in  such  numbers, 
and  are  of  such  excellence  and  cheapness,  that  the  student 
is  actually  embarrassed  to  choose  among  them.  School  his¬ 
tories  of  the  United  States  well  reflect  the  progress  that  has 
been  made  in  this  branch  of  scholarship :  a  book  without  a 
number  of  good  maps  is  condemned  by  all  competent 
judges. 

X.  All  this  time  we  have  been  dealing  with  history  at 
second  hand ;  we  have  been  occupied  with  books  in  which 
the  facts  are  not  only  selected  by  the  author,  but  worked  up 
by  him  ready  for  use.  This  is  not  sufficient :  we  must  go 
back  of  the  historian’s  printed  page  to  inspect  the  materials 
that  he  has  used  in  his  preparation.  Such  materials  may  be 
divided  into  four  classes. 

1.  Literary  documents,  such  as  laws,  decisions  of  the 
courts,  official  proclamations,  orders,  reports  and  mes¬ 
sages,  charters,  private  letters,  diaries,  legislative  records, 
and  the  like.  Genei*al  literature,  both  book  and  peri¬ 
odical,  should  also  be  mentioned,  for  it  not  only  con¬ 
tains  a  multitude  of  facts,  but  also  reflects,  as  official 
documents  could  not  do,  the  manners,  temper,  and  spirit 
of  the  times. 

2.  Monuments,  inscriptions,  ruins,  and  in  fact  everything 
coming  under  the  head  of  archaeology  and  antiquities.  Even 
the  tyro  knows  that  investigations  of  these  subjects  have  in 
recent  years  added  greatly  to  our  knowledge  of  the  countries 
of  the  Old  World,  as  Assyria  and  Egypt,  and  that  they  have 
created  nearly  all  the  knowledge  that  we  have  of  the  history 
and  condition  of  our  own  continent  previous  to  the  coming 
of  the  white  man. 

3.  Historical  geography,  study  of  the  origin,  meaning, 
distribution,  and  changes  of  geographical  names.  This  im- 


36 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


portant  field  of  knowledge  will  be  treated  more  fully  in 
another  place. 

4.  Natural  science,  more  especially  ethnology,  physical 
geography,  and  geology.  These  studies  join  hand  with 
archaeology  and  antiquities.  For  instance,  the  question  of 
the  length  of  time  that  particular  races  have  occupied  differ¬ 
ent  countries ;  the  question  of  the  order  in  which  different 
races  occupying  the  same  country  have  appeared,  as  well  as 
the  question  of  the  antiquity  of  man,  must  be  determined, 
for  the  most  part,  by  investigating  the  human  relics  that  we 
find  in  recent  geological  deposits.* 

The  phrase  “  original  materials  ”  may  be  understood  in 
two  ways.  In  strictest  sense,  the  original  student  discovers 
his  own  materials.  He  goes  to  veritable  records  and  monu¬ 
ments,  and  searches  for  human  memorials  in  caves  and  in 
the  dust  of  the  earth.  But  in  a  secondarv  sense  he  is  an 
original  student  who  makes  good  use  of  the  materials  that 
others  have  discovered  and  have  either  published  or  de¬ 
scribed. 

The  whole  mass  of  printed  documentary  matter  relating 
to  the  history  of  the  United  States  is  enormous.  Since  1789 
everything  of  consequence  pertaining  to  the  National  Grov- 
ernment  has  been  published,  either  at  the  time  of  the  trans¬ 
action  or  soon  afterward  ;  the  States  also  publish  their  cur¬ 
rent  public  history  ;  while  Congress,  the  States,  learned 

*“In  most  of  the  countries  of  Western  Europe,”  says  Hugh  Miller, 
“  Scotland  among  the  rest,  geological  history  may  be  regarded  as  ending 
where  human  history  begins.  The  most  ancient  portions  of  the  one  piece 
on  to  the  most  modern  portions  of  the  other.  But  their  line  of  junction  is, 
if  I  may  so  express  myself,  not  an  abrupt,  but  a  shaded  line ;  so  that,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  human  period  passes  so  entirely  into  the  geological  that 
we  found  our  conclusions  respecting  the  first  human  inliabitants  rather  on 
what  they  deemed  geologic  than  on  the  ordinary  historic  data ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  some  of  the  latter  and  lesser  geologic  changes  have  taken  place 
in  periods  comparatively  so  recent,  that  in  even  our  own  country  we  are 
able  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  them  in  the  first  dawn  of  history  proper— that 
written  history  in  which  man  records  the  deeds  of  his  fellows.” — Popular 
Geology^  Lecture  7 


SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION. 


37 


societies,  and  enterprising  publishers  have  given  us  pretty 
much  everything  that  throws  light  upon  our  earlier  history. 
In  fact,  only  historical  specialists  have,  or  can  have,  much 
idea  of  the  vast  treasures  of  such  lore  that  have  accumulated 
in  the  great  libraries  of  the  country. 

Another  class  of  original  materials  will  be  found  more 
generally  interesting  than  official  documents — the  writings 
of  prominent  actors  in  history  and  of  competent  observers. 
It  is  not,  indeed,  supposed  that  the  teachers  of  history  in  our 
public  schools  will  read  through  the  numerous  and  bulky 
volumes  containing  the  writings  of  Washington,  Franklin, 
Hamilton,  Adams,  Jefferson,  and  others  of  our  distinguished 
statesmen.  All  that  is  contended  for  is  a  sufficient  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  such  authorities  to  show  what  they  are,  to  reveal 
their  spirit,  and  to  give  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  histori¬ 
cal  materials. 

While  our  country  is  inferior  to  many  others  in  histor¬ 
ical  monuments,  it  is  not  wholly  barren  of  them.  The  ar¬ 
chaeologist  finds  interesting  subjects  of  study.  A  majority 
of  teachers  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  can  form  an  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  the  works  of  the  Mound-Builders  ;  at  least,  they 
can  read  some  of  the  books  in  which  these  works  are  de¬ 
scribed,  as  Short’s  North  Americans  of  Antiquity,  and  Fos¬ 
ter’s  Prehistoric  Races  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
Again,  the  geographical  names  of  the  country — Indian, 
Spanish,  French,  English — are  found  in  every  school  atlas, 
and  no  great  scholarship  is  required  to  read  many  of  their 
lessons.  From  the  fourth  subdivision  of  the  field  the  com¬ 
mon  student  is  shut  out,  save  as  he  reads  books  written 
to  elucidate  it.  Professor  Wright’s  The  Ice  Age  in  North 
America  and  its  Bearings  upon  the  Antiquity  of  Man  covers 
this  ground  ;  and  so,  in  a  less  thorough  way,  does  his  Man 
and  the  Glacial  Period. 

Probably  I  should  state  distinctly  that  it  has  not  been 
my  aim  to  make  out  a  list  of  books  that  will  fully  equip  the 
teacher,  but  rather  to  survey  the  broad  field  of  historical 
knowledge,  and  incidentally  to  give  titles  of  books  that  well 


38 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


illustrate  the  character  of  the  work  described.  Naturally 
the  question  arises,  How  much  of  this  field  can  the  teacher 
be  expected  to  cultivate  ? 

In  respect  to  the  rank  and  file,  it  must  be  frankly  ad¬ 
mitted  that  we  can  not  hope  to  see  them  become  very  accom¬ 
plished  historical  scholars.  The  present  state  of  the  schools 
and  the  conditions  surrounding  them  are  such  as  to  forbid 
large  expectations.  At  the  same  time  a  good  deal  can  be 
done,  and  should  be  done,  even  here  to  raise  the  standard  of 
attainment. 

Secondly,  I  have  all  the  time  been  careful,  in  preparing 
this  outline,  to  keep  well  within  the  limits  that  an  enterpris¬ 
ing  teacher  of  good  ability  and  good  habits  of  study,  who  is 
also  favorably  situated,  may  fairly  hope  to  reach.  Such 
teacher,  although  he  may  be  discouraged  at  the  outset,  will 
in  the  end  be  surprised  to  find  how  quickly  he  has  skirted 
the  field,  and  will  then  be  more  anxious  than  ever  to  en¬ 
large  his  plan. 

No  doubt  the  principal  criticism  of  my  scheme  will  be 
that  it  includes  original  study.  The  bare  mention  that  the 
high-school  teacher,  and  still  more  the  teacher  in  the  ele¬ 
mentary  schools,  should  be  not  merely  a  reader  of  books  of 
history  but  also  an  investigator  of  the  material  out  of  which 
such  books  are  made,  will  strike  many  minds,  and  perhaps 
most  minds,  as  a  piece  of  extravagance.  Hence  it  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  show  that  some  work  of  the  kind  is  perfectly  feasi¬ 
ble.  But  first  we  should  remark  upon  its  peculiar  value. 

The  student  of  science  is  not  permitted  to  content  him¬ 
self  with  facts  of  physics,  chemistry,  botany,  or  geology  that 
are  obtained  from  books.  He  is  sent  to  the  laboratory,  to 
the  field  or  forest,  to  the  rocks,  for  the  observation  of  real 
facts,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  for  experiment.  The  student 
of  psychology  and  ethics  is  referred  to  his  own  conscious¬ 
ness,  and  the  student  of  civil  government  to  the  legislature 
and  the  town  meeting.  Why  should  not  similar  work  be 
required  of  students  who  are  preparing  to  teach  the  impor¬ 
tant  subject  of  history  ?  As  matters  now  stand,  there  is  no 


SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION. 


39 


other  study  in  the  schools  that  rests  so  thoroughly  upon  a 
basis  of  authority.  To  an  extent,  no  doubt,  this  inheres  in 
the  nature  of  the  subject,  but  it  is  a  criticism  that  can  be  in 
some  part  overcome. 

The  only  work  in  history  that  is  analogous  to  the  origi¬ 
nal  work  in  science — that  is,  in  schools — is  found  in  the 
historical  seminaries  of  the  colleges  and  universities.  The 
method  is  the  so-called  ‘‘laboratory  method.”  Some  his¬ 
torical  works,  and  in  fact  many  that  deal  with  controverted 
subjects,  do  indeed  contain  more  or  less  argument  and  criti¬ 
cism,  with  the  citation  of  authorities,  and  so  are  a  sort  of  his¬ 
torical  seminary  in  themselves.  Of  such  works  Winsor’s 
Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America  is  a  conspicuous 
example.  It  is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  the  common  read¬ 
er  too  often  skips  these  portions  of  the  book.  Critical  dis¬ 
cussions  have  no  place  in  the  early  stages  of  instruction,  but 
afterward  they  are  invaluable.  As  to  the  historical  semi¬ 
nary  proper,  its  advantages  are  quite  certain  to  continue 
limited  to  a  few  students.  Seminary  work  makes  a  large 
demand  upon  the  teacher  as  well  as  upon  the  pupil.  It  is 
not  a  method  adapted  to  the  wants  of  college  freshmen; 
such  original  materials  as  are  given  to  students  of  this  grade 
of  ability  should  be  made  subsidiary  to  a  text-book  or  to  the 
lectures  of  the  instructor. 

But  while  the  common  teacher  of  history  in  the  schools 
of  the  country  is  shut  out  from  the  seminary  room,  he  is  not 
shut  out  from  original  information.  There  is  not  one  of  the 
four  divisions  of  the  field  that  he  may  not  cultivate  with 
good  results.  The  fact  is,  he  is  now  doing  some  work  of 
the  kind.  For  example,  he  studies  the  Declaration  of  In¬ 
dependence,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  Wash¬ 
ington’s  Farewell  Address,  and  Lincoln’s  Emancipation 
Proclamations.  Why  should  he  not  largely  widen  this 
field  ?  All  the  materials  that  he  needs  are  accessible.  One 
of  the  promising  signs  of  the  times  is  the  efforts  that  are 
made  to  bring  historical  documents  to  the  student  and  the 
teacher.  Such  books  as  Poore’s  Charters  and  Constitu- 


40 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


tions,  Preston’s  Documents  Illustrative  of  xAmerican  His¬ 
tory,  Neill’s  Virginia  Company  of  London  and  Virginia 
Carolorum,  and  Brown’s  Genesis  of  the  LTnited  States — an 
extensive  compilation  of  documents  relating  to  the  James¬ 
town  settlement — illustrate  this  tendency.  Durand’s  Docu¬ 
ments  on  the  American  Revolution  is  another  good  book. 
More  expensive,  and  beyond  the  common  student,  is  Ste¬ 
vens’s  Facsimiles  of  Manuscripts  in  European  Archives  relat¬ 
ing  to  America.  There  are  also  valuable  series  of  documents 
adapted  to  use  in  the  schoolroom  that  are  within  reach  of 
the  poorest.  The  first  of  these  series,  entitled  The  Old  South 
Leaflets,  edited  by  Mr.  E.  D.  Mead,  has  already  reached  more 
than  thirty  numbers.  A  later  series,  American  History 
Leaflets,  Colonial  and  Constitutional,  edited  by  Professors 
Hart  and  Channing,  may  also  be  commended.  Mr.  P.  L. 
Ford’s  Writings  of  Christopher  Columbus,  which  appeared 
last  year,  was  also  a  timely  publication. 

Mr.  Henderson,  after  declaring,  in  the  preface  to  his  Se¬ 
lect  Historical  Documents  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that  the  bit¬ 
terness  of  the  struggles  between  the  Papacy  and  the  Empire 
can  never  be  comprehended  by  one  who  has  not  seen  the 
letters  of  Gregory  VII,  of  Frederick  Barbarossa,  and  of  Boni¬ 
face  VIII,  writes  this  paragraph : 

And  if,  through  reading  original  documents,  one  gains  a  clearer 
insight  into  the  truth  itself,  how  much  more  critical,  and  how  much 
more  appreciative,  does  one  become  toward  modern  writers.  Let 
one  of  my  readers  compare  a  chapter  of  Milman’s  Latin  Christianity 
with  documents  here  given  in  the  book  on  Church  and  State.  Noth¬ 
ing  can  be  more  instructive  than  such  an  exercise.  One  can  exam¬ 
ine  at  leisure  the  materials  with  which  the  historian  worked — his 
methods  will  be  clear  from  knowing  with  what  he  had  to  deal ;  the 
documents  themselves  will  be  illumined  by  his  intelligence  and 
learning.  A  guide-book  is  only  of  real  worth  to  those  who  are  to 
some  extent  familiar  with  the  scenes  described. 

The  teacher  who  has  never  made  an  excursion  into  the 
field  of  original  research  can  but  poorly  appreciate  the 


SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION. 


41 


sense  of  reality  and  the  interest  that  such  studies  impart  to 
historical  knowledge.  No  real  student  would  be  content  to 
take  Bancroft’s  account  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
or  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Why  should  he 
be  content  with  Prescott’s,  Fiske’s,  or  Irving’s  account  of 
Columbus’s  letter  to  Santangel,  so  long  as  that  letter  is 
within  his  reach  ?  Washington’s  Journal  of  his  visit  to  the 
Ohio  in  1754  is  better  than  the  brilliant  pages  in  which  Mr. 
Parkman  describes  that  visit  ;  and  John  and  Abigail  Adams’s 
Familiar  Letters  give  a  much  better  view  of  certain  phases 
of  the  Revolutionary  struggle  than  can  be  obtained  from 
the  pages  of  any  historian. 

No  doubt  it  would  be  impossible  for  most  teachers  of  his¬ 
tory  to  carry  original  studies  very  far.  They  should  remem¬ 
ber,  however,  that  such  studies  in  history,  even  more  than 
such  studies  in  some  other  subjects,  cast  a  light  beyond 
their  immediate  borders.  Nor  is  it  to  be  expected  that  such 
teachers  will  make  valuable  additions  to  knowledge  ;  the 
expectation  is  rather  that,  doing  what  they  can  in  this  field, 
they  will  make  their  work  more  real,  fresh,  and  permanent. 

Perhaps  too  little  has  been  said  above  of  the  value  of 
pictures  and  other  graphic  illustrations,  maps  excepted. 
Well-chosen  photographs,  plates,  casts,  models,  etc.,  can  be 
used  to  excellent  advantage,  and  particularly  in  the  early 
stage  of  historical  study  and  teaching.  Pictures  in  a  book 
have  their  value  ;  for  I  cannot  agree  with  Professor  John¬ 
ston,  who  protests  that  “  maps  in  abundance  ”  are  the  “  only 
legitimate  embellishment  of  a  school  history.”  The  illus¬ 
trated  edition  of  Green’s  Short  History,  which  has  been  pre¬ 
pared  in  accordance  with  the  idea  of  its  author  to  have 
“English  history  interpreted  and  illustrated  by  pictures 
which  should  let  us  see  how  men  and  things  appeared  to 
the  lookers-on  of  their  own  day,  and  how  contemporary  ob 
serv'ers  aimed  at  representing  them,”  admirably  shows  what 
can  be  done  in  this  direction.  This  edition  is  a  “  pictured 
page  ”  in  a  double  sense. 

5 


CHAPTER  IV, 


THE  CHOICE  OF  FACTS. 


I  . 


References, — See  references  of  Chapter  IL  Also  Hall :  Methods 
of  Teaching  History  (particularly  Introduction,  and  Methods  of 
Teaching  History  by  Dr.  Adams) ;  Freeman  :  Methods  of  Historical 
Study  ;  Klemm,  Spencer,  Bain,  Compayre,  Fitch,  and  Currie  :  refer¬ 
ences  previously  given ;  Ransome :  Elementary  History  of  Eng¬ 
land;  The  Journal  of  Education  (London),  February,  1891  (pp. 
86,  87). 


In  teaching  history  the  selection  of  materials  is  of  un¬ 
usual  importance  and  difficulty.  Few  studies  present  such 
a  disparity  between  what  can  be  taught  and  what  might  be 
taught.  While  the  store  of  facts  is  practically  infinite,  one 
of  the  ordinary  Outlines  or  Manuals  of  General  History, 
and  two  or  three  similar  books  relating  to  particular  coun¬ 
tries,  supplemented  by  a  little  general  reading,  is  a  fair 
measure  of  what  is  accomplished  under  the  traditionary- 
method.  With  a  better  method,  the  amount  of  information 
imparted  could  be  considerably  increased,  but  still  the  dis-'" 
parity  would  not  be  very  sensibly  diminished.  What  to 
omit  and  what  to  include,  when  there  is  such  an  embarrass¬ 
ment  of  riches,  is  the  crucial  question  that  tests  the  compe¬ 
tency  of  author  and  teacher  alike. 

The  author  is  the  first  one  to  grapple  with  the  question. 
Summoning  to  his  aid  his  knowledge  of  the  subject,  of  the 
pupil’s  ability,  of  the  teacher’s  fitness,  and  the  amount  of 
time  that  will  probably  be  given  to  the  study  in  the  school 
or  schools,  he  essays  his  difficult  task.  Where  the  author’s 
perplexity  ceases  the  teacher’s  begins.  No  good  teacher 


THE  CHOICE  OF  FACTS. 


43 


attaches  equal  importance  to  all  the  facts  that  the  author 
puts  in  his  book,  no  matter  how  good  the  book  may  be; 
moreover,  every  good  teacher  goes  beyond  the  book  for  facts 
that  it  does  not  contain.  He  is  therefore  compelled  to  do 
over  again — on  a  smaller  scale,  perhaps — what  the  author 
has  done  before  him.  This,  at  least,  is  the  course  of  things 
when  instruction  is  given  from  a  book.  But  it  will  simplify 
matters  to  drop  the  author  out  of  sight,  and  to  speak  of  the 
teacher  as  covering  the  whole  ground.  Their  work  is  not, 
indeed,  just  the  same,  but  it  is  sufficiently  so  to  warrant  us, 
at  least  for  the  time,  in  treating  them  as  one  person.  By 
what  criteria  shall  the  teacher  of  history  be  guided  in  his 
choice  of  material  ? 

Before  attempting  to  answer,  it  should  be  observed  that 
the  only  way  to  help  the  teacher  at  this  point  is  to  discuss 
the  general  subject  with  him.  No  sensible  teacher  of  his¬ 
tory  asks  how  many  facts  he  is  to  teach.  No  two  teachers — 
if  good  ones — would  teach  the  same  number  of  facts,  or  just 
the  same  facts,  to  the  same  pupil  or  class,  and  much  less  to 
different  classes.  No  sensible  teacher  asks  what  kind  of 
facts  he  shall  teach,  expecting  to  receive  in  answer  a  tabula¬ 
tion  of  his  material.  He  knows  that  general  rules,  accom¬ 
panied  by  suitable  illustrations,  are  the  only  useful  answers 
to  these  questions. 

I.  It  is  obvious  that  the  first  thing  to  be  considered  is 
the  stage  of  instruction  immediately  in  hand.  Facts  are 
the  materials  dealt  with  from  first  to  last,  but  not  the  same 
kinds  of  facts.  The  facts  chosen,  whatever  the  stage  of 
progress  may  be,  must  be  selected  with  prime  reference  to 
the  pupil’s  ability  to  take  in  and  assimilate  them. 

The  facts  presented  in  the  primary  stage  must  be  particu¬ 
lar,  simple,  and  concrete.  The  child  of  elementary  school 
age  is  not  troubled  to  understand  the  facts  that  occur  in  the 
sphere  of  the  home,  the  school,  and  the  neighborhood;  nor 
will  he  be  troubled  to  understand  similar  facts  in  history, 
even  if  they  be  of  a  somewhat  elevated  character,  provided 
they  are  presented  to  him  in  an  interesting  way.  The  first 


44 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AXD  TEACH  HISTORY. 


lessons  should  be  like  the  events  that  the  child  sees,  hears, 
and  reads  of  in  the  living  world.  Thus,  he  will  readily  pass 
from  the  known  world  of  current  life  to  the  unknown  world 
of  historic  life.  Then,  in  addition  to  being  simple  and  par¬ 
ticular,  the  facts  should  be  such  as  in  real  life  would  attract 
the  attention  and  hold  the  imagination  of  the  learner.  It  is 
not  necessary  here  to  repeat  the  familiar  commonplaces 
about  the  early  development  of  the  perceptive  and  represent¬ 
ative  faculties  of  the  mind.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  children 
of  quick  fancy  discover  a  great  deal  in  the  world  that  is  pictur¬ 
esque  and  romantic ;  that  they  do  a  vast  amount  of  poetizing 
and  dramatizing,  and  that  the  teacher  of  primary  history 
who  does  not  keep  this  fact  in  mind,  and  take  advantage 
of  it,  will  seriously  miss  his  way.  The  pictorial  and  poetical 
elements  of  history  should  never  cease  to  receive  recog¬ 
nition,  since  they  belong  to  the  subject-matter,  but  in  the 
elementary  school  they  should  be  thrown  into  the  fore¬ 
ground.  Again,  the  close  relations  existing  between  the 
feelings  and  the  intellectual  powers  should  not  be  lost  sight 
of.  Deep  feeling  does  indeed  interfere  with  vigorous  in¬ 
tellectual  activity,  particularly  in  the  young;  at  the  same 
time  a  lively  feeling,  as  of  sympathy  or  admiration,  greatly 
stimulates  interest  and  mental  action.  The  things  that  take 
hold  of  these  feelings  not  only  develop  the  moral  nature  of 
the  child  but  they  also  cling  to  the  memory.  The  fact  that 
a  child  of  a  certain  age  is  a  hero-worshiper  is  full  of  mean¬ 
ing  on  the  mere  didactic  side  as  well  as  on  the  moral  side. 

Personality  is  an  element  of  great  interest  to  adults  and 
children  alike.  They  are  always  pleased  to  hear  about  men. 
Of  this  we  have  a  familiar  proof  in  the  depraved  taste  for 
mere  gossip  that  is  so  common.  Still  further,  the  acts  of 
men  are  more  interesting  to  the  common  mind  than  their 
opinions  and  creeds.  Hence  it  is  that  elementary  instruc¬ 
tion  in  history  must  hold  closely  to  objective  transactions. 
The  Pilgrim  Fathers  themselves — their  heroic  deeds  in  defy¬ 
ing  sea  and  storm,  hunger  and  cold,  and  a  wily  foe  ;  their 
peaked  hats,  dark  cloaks,  and  heavy  swords — will  impress 


THE  CHOICE  OF  FACTS. 


45 


minds  that  do  not  respond  to  their  civil  and  religious  ideas  or 
to  the  Pilgrim  Compact.  Then,  the  mind  more  readily  seizes 
hold  of  individuals  than  of  groups  of  individuals.  Miles 
Standish  cuts  a  deeper  trace  in  the  memory  than  the  whole 
company  that  landed  at  Plymouth.  Franklin  will  awaken 
interest  when  the  Albany  Congress  fails  to  do  so.  Wash¬ 
ington  on  his  campaigns  will  hold  the  youthful  attention 
more  closely  than  the  Continental  Congress  or  the  Federal 
Convention  discussing  and  adopting  resolutions.  These  are 
not  the  only  kinds  of  facts  that  history  deals  with  ;  the 
teacher  must  also  teach  ideas  and  documents — show  what  it 
is  all  about.  But  the  more  abstract  facts  must  follow  those 
that  are  of  a  concrete  and  objective  nature.  So  important 
are  persons  in  history,  that  they  should  be  made  centers  for 
grouping  facts,  as  will  be  explained  hereafter. 

In  well-ordered  education,  so  far  from  there  being  a 
chasm  between  the  elementary  school  and  the  secondary 
school,  the  first  leads  up  to  the  second  by  progressive  ap¬ 
proaches.  Still,  the  two  schools  stand  for  stages  of  progress 
in  the  pupil’s  ability  and  in  the  teacher’s  methods.  The 
faculties  of  perception,  of  memory,  and  imagination  are  not 
relatively  so  prominent  in  the  second  stage,  while  those  of 
analysis,  comparison,  and  reasoning  are  more  prominent. 
Secondary  instruction  in  history,  therefore,  marks  an  ad¬ 
vance,  though  not  an  abrupt  advance,  upon  elementary  in¬ 
struction.  This  is  a  capital  fact,  not  only  in  view  of  the 
organization  of  material,  but  also  in  view  of  its  selection. 
Facts  of  a  more  general  and  abstract  nature  can  now  be 
taught.  Personal  agents  should  be  less  prominent.  The 
conceptions  of  society  and  of  the  nation  should  be  brought 
forward.  Large  political  transactions — the  acts  of  legisla¬ 
tures,  congresses,  and  conventions — can  be  grasped,  though 
not  as  fully  as  at  a  later  time.  Some  of  the  easier  questions 
and  problems  of  history  may  be  discussed.  The  bearing  of 
facts  and  the  direction  and  force  of  historical  movements 
can  be  pointed  out.  In  truth,  the  relations  of  facts  are  but 
a  broader  view  of  the  facts  themselves.  Here,  too,  will  come 


46 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


in  some  of  the  lessons  and  teachings  of  history,  political  and 
moral.  Instruction  need  not  be  made  quite  as  pictorial  and 
striking  as  before.  Finally,  care  should  be  taken  in  the 
secondary  school  to  form  habits  of  accuracy  and  thorough- 
ness  in  the  ascertainment  of  facts  ;  the  difference  between  a 
fact  and  an  opinion  about  it,  or  a  conclusion  drawn  from  it, 
must  be  duly  appreciated ;  in  other  words,  secondary  instruc¬ 
tion  should  lay  the  foundation  for  historical  investigation. 

Of  the  third  stage  of  education,  a  few  words  will  here 
suffice. 

The  advance  from  the  secondary  school  to  the  college  is 
not  unlike  the  advance  from  the  elementary  school  to  the 
high  school  or  the  academy.  Due  regard  will  now  be  paid 
to  the  growth  of  the  mind,  both  in  the  choice  of  materials 
and  in  the  methods  of  presentation.  Facts  of  a  more  general, 
complex,  and  abstract  nature  are  in  place  ;  also  their  broader 
relations.  These  facts  and  relations  will  suggest  still  larger 
and  more  diJBdcult  questions  and  problems.  Society  assumes 
much  of  the  prominence  that,  in  the  beginning,  was  ac¬ 
corded  to  the  individual  man.  Broader  and  deeper  views  of 
the  state  will  now  claim  attention,  and  history  will  be  cor¬ 
related  with  other  subjects,  as  economics,  constitutional 
law,  and  political  philosophy.  No  pains  should  be  spared 
to  form  right  methods  of  study  and  to  stimulate  the  spirit  of 
investigation.  The  time  has  come  when  the  student  may 
comprehend  the  meaning  of  Professor  Seeley. 

In  history  everything  depends  upon  turning  narrative  into  prob¬ 
lems.  So  long  as  you  think  of  history  as  a  mere  chronological 
narrative,  so  long  you  are  in  the  old  literary  groove  which  leads  to 
no  trustworthy  knowledge,  but  only  to  that  pompous  conventional 
romancing  of  which  all  serious  men  are  tired.  Break  the  drowsy 
spell  of  narrative;  ask  yourself  questions;  set  yourself  problems; 
your  mind  will  at  once  take  up  a  new  attitude  ;  you  will  become  an 
investigator ;  you  will  cease  to  be  solemn  and  begin  to  be  serious. 

He  can  now  understand  that  anecdotes,  incidents,  personal 
facts,  tales,  and  biographies  are  but  the  raw  material  of  the 


THE  CHOICE  OF  FACTS. 


47 


history  that  is  a  guide  to  life  and  a  high  mental  discipline, 
and  by  no  means  the  whole  of  such  material.  He  compre¬ 
hends  the  words  of  Guizot,  who,  while  heartily  assenting 
that  history  is  limited  to  facts,  denies  that  all  facts  are  ma¬ 
terial  and  visible  ;  holds  that  “  there  are  moral,  hidden  facts 
which  are  no  less  real  than  battles,  wars,  and  the  public 
acts  of  government.  Besides  these  individual  facts,  each  of 
which  has  its  proper  name,”  he  says,  “  there  are  others  of  a 
general  nature,  without  a  name,  of  which  it  is  impossible  to 
say  that  they  happened  in  such  a  year  or  on  such  a  day, 
and  which  it  is  impossible  to  confine  within  any  precise 
limits,  but  which  are  just  as  much  facts  as  the  battles  and 
public  acts  of  which  we  have  spoken.” 

That  very  portion,  indeed,  which  we  are  accustomed  to  hear 
called  the  philosophy  of  history — which  consists  in  showing  the  re¬ 
lation  of  events  with  each  other,  the  chain  which  connects  them,  the 
causes  and  effects  of  events — this  is  history  just  as  much  as  the 
description  of  battles  and  all  the  other  exterior  events  which  it 
recounts.  Facts  of  this  kind  are  undoubtedly  more  difficult  to 
unravel ;  the  historian  is  more  liable  to  deceive  himself  respecting 
them;  it  requires  more  skill  to  place  them  distinctly  before  the 
reader ;  but  this  difficulty  does  not  alter  their  nature ;  they  still  con¬ 
tinue  not  a  whit  the  less,  for  all  this,  to  form  an  essential  part  of 
history. 

So  much  in  relation  to  the  rule  that  requires  facts  to  be 
graduated  according  to  the  age  and  mental  development  of 
the  pupil. 

II.  Another  criterion  to  follow  in  selecting  material  is, 
that  only  characteristic  facts  should  be  taught — facts  that 
mark  the  man,  the  country,  the  age,  and  serve  to  distin¬ 
guish  him  or  it  from  other  men  or  ages.  History  is  moral 
knowledge,  and  constant  deference  must  be  paid  to  the 
truth ;  it  is  a  matter  of  veracity. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  this  canon  may  be  violated 
without  teaching  false  facts.  The  first  is,  to  teach  facts  that 
are  not  characteristic,  and  so  convey  false  impressions.  At 


48 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


this  point  sound  judgment  and  regard  for  truth  or  reality 
are  a  sufficient  safeguard.  The  other  violation  is,  wrongly 
to  combine  characteristic  facts,  or  to  teach  them  in  dispro¬ 
portion.  In  some  respects  avoidance  of  this  error  wdll  be 
found  more  difficult  than  avoidance  of  the  previous  one.  * 
Elementary  instruction  in  history  moves  above  the  level  of 
real  life,  and  the  pupil  is  likely  to  form  the  impression  that 
history  is  more  picturesque  and  romantic  than  it  really  is. 
This  is  especially  true  of  children  of  strong  and  active 
imagination.  In  fact,  disproportion,  or  lack  of  perspective, 
arising  from  various  sources,  is  one  of  the  familiar  evils 
attending  his  mode  of  study.  However,  the  romance  with 
which  children  clothe  historical  personages  is  generally 
soon  corrected  by  practical  experience ;  while  a  strong  dash 
of  idealism  in  young  life  is  much  to  be  desired  for  numerous 
reasons.  Still,  the  teacher  needs  just  views  and  sound  judg¬ 
ment. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  criterion  shuts  the 
teacher  up  to  grave  and  sober  facts  alone.  A  bit  of  romance, 
poetry,  anecdote,  or  story,  will  often  throw  more  light  upon 
a  historical  situation,  or  let  you  deeper  into  a  man’s  heart 
and  life,  than  a  page  of  careful  analysis.  The  story  of  Alfred 
and  the  cakes,  of  Bruce  and  the  spider,  of  Sidney  and  the 
cup  of  water,  of  Marion  and  the  sweet  potatoes,  are  not  only 
thoroughly  characteristic,  but  they  tell  us  more  than  a  labo¬ 
rious  description.  Who  could  fully  describe  Mr.  Lincoln, 
leaving  out  all  the  familiar  stories  ? 

It  is  sometimes  said,  and  especially  by  foreign  critics,  that 
our  country  is  commonplace,  and  lacking  in  the  elements  of 
deep  human  interest.  No  doubt  our  history  as  a  whole  is 
more  practical  and  prosaic  than  that  of  Europe.  The  life 
of  Europe  also  is  less  picturesque  and  poetic  than  it  was 
in  former  centuries.  But  it  is  far  from  true  that  American 
history  is  devoid  of  interest  for  children  and  youth;  it  is 
rather  rich  in  these  elements.  The  struggles  of  Columbus  in 
quest  of  a  patron,  his  voyages  and  discoveries ;  the  voyages 
and  discoveries  of  the  Cabots  and  of  Hudson;  the  chival- 


THE  CHOICE  OF  FACTS. 


49 


rous,  far-sighted  Raleigh;  the  story-telling  adventurer  John 
Smith;  the  Pilgrim  Fathers;  the  Dutch  traders  at  New 
York  ;  Penn,  Calvert,  and  Oglethorpe — are  all  characters 
interesting  to  children.  The  romantic  search  of  Ponce  de 
Leon  for  the  fountain  of  youth,  and  of  De  Soto  for  gold  and 
a  powerful  Indian  kingdom  like  that  of  the  Montezumas 
that  he  might  conquer,  abound  in  picturesque  and  striking 
features.  The  labors  of  Champlain  in  founding  Canada^ 
and  of  the  Jesuits  in  their  zeal  for  the  souls  of  the  savages, 
La  Salle  and  the  discovery  of  the  Great  West,  have  a  per¬ 
ennial  attraction.  The  early  Indian  wars  present  interesting 
characters  and  high  qualities.  The  Revolution  is  rich  in 
good  material.  Pioneer  life  and  the  tales  of  the  border,  as 
well  as  our  later  national  struggles,  may  be  drawn  upon  to 
excellent  advantage. 

In  that  suggestive  yet  exasperating  chapter  of  his  Educa¬ 
tion  entitled  What  Knowledge  is  of  Most  Worth  ?  Mr.  Her¬ 
bert  Spencer  expresses  his  profound  contempt  for  the  history 
taught  thirty  years  ago  in  the  schools  of  England.  The  his¬ 
torical  information  commonly  given,  he  said,  is  almost  value¬ 
less  for  purposes  of  guidance.  Scarcely  any  of  the  facts  set 
down  in  the  school  histories  give  any  clew  to  the  right  prin¬ 
ciples  of  political  action.  The  biographies  of  monarchs 
throw  little  light  upon  the  science  of  society.  Familiarity 
with  court  intrigues,  plots,  usurpations,  and  the  like,  with 
attending  personalities,  aid  very  little  in  elucidating  the 
principles  upon  which  national  welfare  depends.  Neither 
The  Fifteen  Decisive  Battles  of  the  World,  nor  all  other 
accounts  of  battles  that  history  mentions,  would  enable  the 
voter  to  vote  more  judiciously  at  the  next  election.  Battles 
are  squabbles  for  power.  Such  facts  are  unorganizable,  and 
can  he  of  no  service  in  establishing  principles  of  conduct, 
which  is  the  chief  use  of  facts ;  they  may  amuse,  hut  they 
do  not  instruct.  Proper  history  is  mainly  omitted,  not  only 
from  these  works  but  also  from  the  more  ambitious  ones 
written  for  adults.  What  we  are  really  concerned  to  know 
is  the  natural  history  of  events.  We  want  all  the  facts  that 


50 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


explain  how  nations  grow  and  organize  themselves.  We 
want  as  full  accounts  as  possible  about  governments  and 
churches,  but  as  little  gossip  about  the  men  who  have  con¬ 
ducted  them  as  may  be.  Industrial  systems  and  acts  should 
be  delineated,  and  also  the  amusements  and  the  morals  of 
the  people  as  illustrated  in  laws,  habits,  proverbs,  and  deeds. 
The  only  history  that  is  of  practical  value  is  descriptive 
sociology.  The  highest  office  that  the  historian  can  dis¬ 
charge  is  to  furnish  the  material  for  a  comparative  sociol¬ 
ogy,  and  for  subsequent  determinations  of  the  ultimate  laws 
to  which  social  phenomena  conform.  The  common  citizen 
lacks  not  only  the  materials  for  sociology,  but  also  the  very 
conception  of  what  it  is,  and  all  because  history  and  related 
subjects  are  badly  taught. 

Such  is  a  fair  summary  of  the  views  relating  to  history 
presented  in  this  celebrated  essay.  Considered  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  colleges  and  universities,  these  views  are  of  great 
value;  considered  with  reference  to  primary  and  grammar 
schools,  they  are  wholly  erroneous,  misleading,  and  imprac¬ 
ticable.  Still  further,  Spencer’s  method  would  also  fail  in 
the  academy  or  the  high  school,  although  the  pupil’s  logical 
power  has  now  become  more  developed  than  in  the  grades 
below. 

First,  Mr.  Spencer  calls  for  a  wholly  disproportionate 
number  of  abstract  facts.  Many  of  his  facts  are  not  ele¬ 
mentary  facts  at  all,  but  logical  facts,  reached  by  careful  and 
more  or  less  difficult  trains  of  reasoning.  To  be  sure,  these 
facts  and  processes  are  very  valuable  and  have  their  place, 
but  all  things  according  to  their  proper  measure.  For  all 
stages  of  teaching,  and  especially  the  first  and  second  ones, 
too  little  is  made  of  the  personal  element.  Historical  action 
consists  of  the  doings  of  men  and  women,  and  not  of  the 
operations  of  impersonal  agents  or  general  laws.  The  logic¬ 
al  element  is  made  too  prominent,  at  least  until  the  college 
or  university  has  been  reached.  Mr.  Spencer  assumes  that 
the  common  school  boy  possesses  powers  of  analysis  and 
synthesis  that  he  does  not  possess.  Not  only  can  not  such  a 


THE  CHOICE  OF  FACTS. 


51 


schoolboy  co-ordinate  and  systematize  the  abstract  concep¬ 
tions  supposed,  but  he  can  not  even  form  them.  He  must 
move  more  in  the  objective  world  of  transactions,  and  less 
in  the  subjective  world  of  ideas.  Possibly  it  is  true  that 
descriptive  sociology  is  the  only  history  that  has  practical 
value,  although  it  may  well  be  doubted;  it  may  be  true — 
and  here  we  are  on  much  surer  ground — that  history  teach¬ 
ing  does  not  point  up  to  sociology  as  it  should  do ;  but  it  is 
absolutely  certain  that  the  teacher  who  begins  his  instruc¬ 
tion  with  Mr.  Spencer’s  ideal  immediately  in  view  will  never 
reach  his  goal. 

Mr.  Eansome,  in  the  preface  to  his  Elementary  History  of 
England,  commits  a  mistake  similar  to  Mr.  Spencer’s.  He 
regards  history  as  essentially  the  history  of  political  growth; 
literature,  anecdote,  manners  and  customs  being  mere  sur¬ 
plusage.  ‘‘The  human  heart  is  much  the  same,”  he  says, 
“whether  it  dresses  in  silk  or  broadcloth,  and  arbitrary 
taxation  is  as  much  a  grievance  whether  the  payers  wear 
frock  coats  or  shirts  of  mail.  .  .  .  Even  the  bloodiest  of  bat¬ 
tles,  if  it  lead  to  nothing,  is  less  attractive  to  the  average 
schoolboy  than  the  story  how,  through  the  tenacity  and 
foresight  of  his  ancestors,  he  will  have  the  privilege  of 
keeping  his  own  money  in  his  own  pocket,  unless  it  is  voted 
for  public  purposes  by  his  accredited  representatives.”  An 
English  reviewer  exposes  the  serious  mistake  here  made 
in  a  few  sentences  that  set  the  whole  subject  at  once  in  its 
proper  light. 

We  have  never  met  with  the  schoolboy  who  would  rather  read 
of  Scutage  than  the  battle  of  Otterburn,  or  took  more  interest  in 
Benevolences  than  in  Flodden  Field.  The  point  at  issue  turns  on 
the  age  of  the  pupil,  and  our  protest  is  directed  against  any  attempt 
to  teach  political  history — history  proper,  if  you  will — before  the 
age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  at  the  earliest.  Up  till  this  let  us 
have  biography,  battles,  incidents,  anecdotes.  Herodotus  precedes 
Thucydides ;  from  the  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome  we  pass  to  Niebuhr 
and  Mommsen.  Fortunately,  Mr.  Ransome  is  better  than  his  the¬ 
ories,  and  in  the  first  few  pages  we  have  the  old  stories  of  Angles 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


and  angels,  Alfred  and  the  cakes,  and  the  (comparatively)  new  story 
of  the  wild  duck  that  built  her  nest  in  one  of  the  Roman  balnea  at 
Bath.y  These  are  the  parts  that  will  stick  in  the  memory ;  and  all 
about  shire-moots  and  town-moots,  the  Assize  of  Clarendon  and  the 
Assize  of  Arms,  will  possibly  gain  marks,  but  leave  no  marks  be¬ 
hind.  .  .  . 

History  for  the  child  is  to  start  from  the  present — from  the 
known  and  visible,  from  the  existing  state  and  the  local  government 
of  the  place  where  he  lives,  just  as  geography  should  start  from  his 
native  village  and  from  the  river  and  hills  near  by. 

It  is  true  that  history  has  not  been  so  taught  as  to  yield 
its  fullest  guidance  value.  It  is  also  true  that  undue  stress 
has  been  laid  on  battles,  anecdotes  of  distinguished  persons, 
and  gossip.  At  the  same  time,  these  can  not  be  dismissed  so 
contemptuously  as  Mr.  Spencer  dismisses  them.  To  be  sure, 
many  battles  stand  for  little  in  the  history  of  the  race,  but 
this  is  by  no  means  true  of  all.  It  would  be  difficult  to  ex¬ 
aggerate  the  issues  that  hung  on  the  battle  of  Marathon,  the 
invasion  of  Greece  by  Xerxes,  the  triumph  of  Rome  over 
•  Carthage,  or  the  defeat  of  the  Saracens  by  Charles  Martel. 
The  fall  of  Constantinople  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  the 
resistance  of  the  Dutch  to  Spain,  the  Civil  War  in  England, 
and  the  American  Revolution  were  followed  by  far-reaching 
results.  Mr.  Ransome’s  limitation  of  history  to  political 
growth  is  Dr.  Freeman’s  mistake  over  again.  No  person  is 
likely  to  commit  the  errors  into  which  Mr.  Spencer  falls, 
who  has  had  practical  experience  in  teaching  children  his¬ 
tory.  In  this  branch  of  education  the  Germans  are  very  suc¬ 
cessful,  and  they  teach  both  universal  and  German  history 
to  elementary  pupils  chiefly  in  the  form  of  biography. 

Note. — Introduction  to  the  Study  of  English  History :  S.  R.  Gardiner 
and  J.  Bass  Mullinger.  This  book,  and  especially  Part  IL,  entitled  “  Au¬ 
thorities,”  may  be  strongly  recommended  to  teacliers  of  English  history. 
Mr.  Mullinger,  the  author  of  Part  IL,  declares  liis  first  aim  to  be  “  carefully 
to  distinguish  the  contemporary  soiwces  of  information  for  each  period  from 
those  of  later  times”;  his  second  one  to  be,  “  wherever  practicable,  to  sup¬ 
ply  such  amount  of  comment  as  will  enable  the  student  to  form  a  fairly 
accurate  notion  of  each  author’s  value  as  an  authority.” 


CHAPTER  V. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 

References, — Hall,  Freeman,  Klemm,  Compayre,  Currie,  Fitch, 
Barnes,  Gordy  and  Twitchell,  and  Davidson :  previous  references. 
Bain:  Education  as  a  Science,  VIII.,  Practical  Essays,  VII.  (The 
Art  of  Teaching);  Trainer:  United  States  History  by  the  Brace 
Method ;  Prince  :  Methods  of  Instruction  and  of  Organization  of  the 
Schools  of  Germany,  X. ;  Foster :  The  Seminary  Method  of  Original 
Study  in  the  Historical  Sciences,  as  Illustrated  from  Church  His¬ 
tory;  Fling:  The  Academy,  IV.,  129,  212,  (The  German  Historical 
Seminary.  These  articles  give  an  interesting  account  of  the  semi¬ 
nary  organizations  and  methods  of  Prof.  Maurenbrecher,  of  Leipsic) ; 
Fredericq:  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  Historical  and 
Political  Science,  Fifth  Series,  X.  (Notes  and  Impressions  concern¬ 
ing  Advanced  Instruction  in  History  in  England  and  Scotland), 
Eighth  Series,  V.,  VI.,  X.  (The  Study  of  History  in  Germany  and 
France,  and  The  Study  of  History  in  Belgium  and  Holland) ;  H.  B. 
Adams:  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  Second  Series,  I.,  II., 
(Special  Methods  of  Historical  Study,  and  New  Methods  of  Studying 
History) ;  White :  Johns  Hopkins  Studies,  Fifth  Series,  XII.  (History 
and  Politics) ;  C.  K.  Adams :  Papers  of  the  American  Historical  As¬ 
sociation,  IV.,  No.  1  (Recent  Historical  Work  in  the  Colleges  and 
Universities  of  Europe  and  America) ;  Schouler :  Papers  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Historical  Association,  IV.,  No.  3  (The  Spirit  of  Historical  Re¬ 
search)  ;  Rollins :  The  Academy,  I.,  133  (American  History  in  Pre¬ 
paratory  Schools) ;  Hart :  id.,  II.,  256,  306  (History  in  High  and  Pre¬ 
paratory  Schools) ;  Burgess :  id..  III.,  293  (The  Method  of  Teaching 
College  Preparatory  History) ;  Mrs.  Barnes :  id.,  IV.,  285  (General 
History  in  High  Schools) ;  Hudson :  id..  III.,  120  (History  and  Politi¬ 
cal  Science) ;  Salmon :  id.,  V.,  VI.,  310,  238  (Teaching  of  History  in 
Academies  and  Colleges);  Winterburn:  id.,  VI.,  148  (History  Work 


54 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


in  High  Schools) ;  Droysen  :  Outline  of  the  Principles  of  History, 
translated  by  E;  B.  Andrews;  Hughes:  Education,  II.,  410  (Topical 
Teaching  of  History) ;  Porter :  id..  III.,  136  (The  Study  of  History) ; 
•Greenwood:  id.,  VI.,  23  (Teaching  History);  Fisher,  id.,  VI.,  588 
(Universal  History);  Judson:  id.,  VI.,  19  (Teaching  History  in  Sec¬ 
ondary  Schools);  Hall:  id.,  VII.,  470  (History  of  the  Civil  War, 
What  and  How  much  should  be  Taught  ?) ;  Thorpe :  id.,  VI.,  80 
(Teaching  of  American  History);  Gardner:  id.,  VIII.,  547,  663,  IX., 
35,  109  (Outline  Notes  of  the  Renaissance  and  of  the  Reformation) ; 
Lowry :  id.,  VII.,  447  (Philosophy  of  State  and  of  History) ;  Thorpe ; 
id.,  VIIL,  351  (History  and  Economics  in  Manual  Training  Schools) ; 
Wallace:  id.,  IX.,  346  (Study  of  History  through  Biography); 
Mowry :  id.,  IX.,  134  (The  Teacher’s  Independent  Study  of  History). 

It  is  quite  commonly  conceded  by  competent  judges  that 
in  no  other  schools  are  such  substantial  results  reached  in 
teaching  history  as  in  those  of  Germany.  It  will  help  us 
on  our  way  to  glance  at  the  general  features  of  the  instruc¬ 
tion  that  they  furnish. 

The  first  thing  to  be  remarked  is,  that  in  the  best  of  these 
schools  the  teacher  in  the  beginning  is  the  sole  agent  of  in¬ 
struction.  No  room  is  found  for  a  text-book,  but  especially 
trained  teachers  conduct  the  pupil  over  a  carefully  prepared 
course  of  study. 

The  second  thing  is,  that  the  primary  course,  is  wholly 
biographical ;  the  lessons  are  all  narratives,  tales,  stories,  and 
biographies  of  important  historical  personages.  At  the  end 
of  two  years,  two  lessons  having  been  given  a  week,  it  is 
found  that  a  large  number  of  valuable  facts  have  been  fixed 
in  the  pupil’s  mind  ;  and  that  the  pupil,  instead  of  finding 
the  lessons  dry  and  tiresome,  has  rather  found  them  a  source 
of  positive  pleasure  and  recreation. 

At  the  age  of  twelve  a  step  forward  is  taken.  The  teacher 
now  conducts  the  pupil  the  second  time  over  the  former 
course,  but  with  a  somewhat  different  end  in  view  ;  the  in¬ 
dividual  man  falls  a  little  into  the  background,  while  the 
nation  moves  forward.  For  example,  the  subject  is  now  tlie 
story  of  the  second  Punic  war — not  the  story  of  Hannibal. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 


55 


More  attention  is  paid  to  historical  connection,  and  particu¬ 
larly  to  causal  connection.  The  range  of  facts  is  expanded 
and  amplified.  At  the  end  of  three  years  more  the  pupil, 
being  now  fifteen  years  of  age,  has  made  two  surveys  of  uni¬ 
versal  history,  one  smaller  and  one  larger.  While  he  is 
making  the  second  survey,  the  teacher  gives  him  a  little 
pamphlet,  commonly  of  the  teacher’s  own  preparation,  a 
mere  sketch  of  dates  and  names,  to  help  him  to  retain  and 
recall  the  main  points  of  the  oral  lessons  ;  and  this  is  the 
only  text-book. 

The  three  or  four  years  that  now  follow  are  given  to  en¬ 
larging  and  supplementing  the  outline  that  has  been  so  thor¬ 
oughly  inculcated.  In  addition  the  pupil  may,  under  direc¬ 
tion,  take  up  and  carefully  pursue  the  history  of  his  own 
country,  or  some  particular  historical  period,  as  the  Refor¬ 
mation,  or  of  the  French  Revolution — that  is,  specialization 
in  a  mild  form  now  begins. 

Dr.  L.  R.  Klemm  reports  the  excellence  of  the  historical 
instruction  in  a  school  that  he  visited  in  Rhenish  Prussia. 
The  method  followed,  which  was  in  a  C  grammar,  or  sixth 
grade,  he  thus  describes  : 

1.  A  biographical  narrative  was  given  by  the  teacher,  who  spoke 
in  very  simple,  appropriate  language,  but  feelingly,  with  the  glow  of 
enthusiasm  and  the  chest-tone  of  conviction.  He  made  each  pupil 
identify  himself  with  the  hero  of  the  story.  The  map  was  fre¬ 
quently  used  or  referred  to.  Bits  of  poetry  taken  from  the  Reader 
were  interwoven,  and  circumstances  of  our  time,  as  well  as  persons 
of  very  recent  history,  were  mentioned  at  proper  occasions.  The 
attention  was  breathless. 

2.  The  story  was  then  repeated  by  pupils,  who  were  now  and  then 
interrupted  by  leading  questions.  The  answers  were  again  used  to 
develop  new  thoughts  not  brought  out  by  the  first  narration.  Par¬ 
ticularly  was  it  cause  and  effect,  and  the  moral  value  of  certain  his¬ 
torical  actions  which  claimed  the  attention  of  the  teacher.  To  me 
it  was  very  instructive  to  see  these  children  search  for  analogous 
cases  in  human  life  as  they  knew  it. 

3.  The  pupils  were  led  to  search  in  their  stores  of  historical 


56 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


knowledge  for  analogous  cases,  or  cases  of  decided  contrast.  This 
gave  me  an  insight  into  the  extent  of  their  knowledge.  When,  for 
instance,  certain  civil  virtues  were  spoken  of,  they  mentioned  cases 
which  revealed  a  very  laudable  familiarity  with  history.  But  all 
their  knowledge  had  been  grouped  around  a  number  of  centers — 
that  is,  great  men.  That  is  to  say,  their  knowledge  had  been  gained 
through  biographies. 

4.  The  pupils  were  told  to  write,  in  a  connected  narration,  what 
they  had  just  learned.  This  proved  a  fertile  composition  exercise, 
because  the  pupils  had  something  to  write  about — a  thing  that  is 
not  quite  so  frequent  in  schools  as  it  seems  desirable. 

The  teacher  who  gave  Dr.  Klemm  this  outline  also  fur¬ 
nished  him  with  a  statement  of  the  principles  that  should 
underlie  instruction  in  history. 

The  aim  should  be  “  to  nourish  and  strengthen  all  the  powers  of 
the  soul,  interest,  emotion,  and  volition^  “  The  pupil’s  intellect 
is  increased  by  making  him  familiar  with  historical  deeds,”  “  by 
affording  comparisons  and  making  distinctions,  by  causing  keen 
judgment  and  correct  conclusions.”  “The  pupil’s  heart  is  influ¬ 
enced  by  instruction  in  history,  because  many  great,  sublime,  noble, 
and  beautiful  actions  and  motives  are  presented,  which  cause  pleas¬ 
ure  and  lead  to  imitation,  unconsciously  to  the  pupil.”  “  The  pu¬ 
pil’s  will-power  is  greatly  stimulated  by  instruction  in  history,  be¬ 
cause  he  is  warned  and  inspired  by  truth,  right,  and  duty,  for  love  of 
country  and  his  fellow-men.” 

Discussing  the  conditions  necessary  to  secure  these  ends, 
this  teacher  presented  the  following  points  : 

1.  That  the  teacher  of  history  be  a  person  whose  heart  is  full 
of  patriotism,  and  beats  strongly  for  truth,  right,  and  duty.  2. 
That  the  instruction  be  not  a  mere  recital  of  names  and  dates,  of 
battles  and  acquisitions  of  land,  nor  dissertations  upon  abstract 
ideas  and  generalities,  but,  above  all,  a  simple  narration  of  deeds  and 
events,  and  a  glowing  description  of  persons  and  circumstances.  3. 
That  the  teacher  connect  the  new  historical  knowledge  with  circum¬ 
stances  and  conditions,  such  as  are  either  known  to  the  pupils  or 
are  near  enough  at  hand  to  draw  them  into  the  discussion.  4.  That 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 


57 


the  pupil  should  not  be  allowed  to  remain  receptive,  but  must  be 
induced  to  be  active  in  this  study.  5.  That  the  teacher  should  in¬ 
duce  his  pupils  to  compare  similar  and  dissimilar  actions  and  persons, 
and  thereby  cause  judgment  upon  cause  and  effect  from  a  moral  or 
ethical  standpoint,  so  that  not  merely  the  intellect  be  developed,  but 
also  the  heart  and  the  will.  6.  That  instruction  in  history  be  brought 
into  organic  connection  with  the  study  of  language :  for  this  reason, 
reading  is  to  be  brought  in  as  an  assistant.  Recitations  of  patriotic 
poems  and  ballads  can  be  woven  in  profitably,  and  that  geography 
must  aid  history  is  self-evident. 

To  this  last  condition  I  may  add  that,  in  the  case  of  chil¬ 
dren  and  young  persons,  the  poem  is  a  most  effective  form 
of  teaching.  Metrical  composition,  like  other  rhythmical 
movements,  takes  fast  hold  of  the  mind,  and  all  the  more  if 
really  poetic.  ^Macaulay’s  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  the  best 
of  the  Scottish  ballads,  as  Chevy  Chase  and  the  Battle  of 
Otter  burn,  and  Paul  Revere’s  Ride,  may  be  given  as  ex¬ 
amples.  The  volumes  edited  by  Mr.  Longfellow,  entitled 
Poems  of  Places,  may  be  searched  with  good  results  by  both 
the  teacher  of  geography  and  of  history. 

Such  is  the  preparation  that  the  German  school  gives  for 
that  matchless  work  in  history  which  is  the  praise  of  the 
German  universities.  It  will  be  seen  that  a  much  longer 
time  is  given  to  the  subject  than  in  our  schools  ;  but  it  is  not 
too  long  if  thorough  instruction  is  to  be  secured. 

The  Herbart-Ziller  school  of  pedagogists,  who  lay  such 
great  stress  upon  history,  say  instruction  should  begin  at 
the  beginning  of  school  life.  Holding  that  the  child’s  love 
of  stories  is  the  first  awakening  of  his  mind  to  the  historic 
interest,  they  make  it  their  first  endeavor  to  stimulate  this 
love  by  systematic  story-telling.  The  art  of  telling  a  story 
they  regard  as  the  final  test  of  a  teacher’s  skill,  and  they 
assign  it  a  prominent  place  in  normal-school  instruction. 
Still  further,  they  have  worked  out  a  primary  programme 
in  accordance  with  their  pedagogical  scheme.  They  have 
arranged  a  number  of  Grimm’s  tales,  which  they  make  the 
center  of  instruction  for  the  first  school  year.  These  stories 
C 


58 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


are  tpld  and  retold  by  the  teacher,  reproduced  item  by  item 
by  the  children,  and  around  them  are  clustered  moral  and 
religious  sentiments,  material  information,  and  illustrative 
object-lessons.  The  next  year,  connected  stories  from  Rob¬ 
inson  Crusoe  are  treated  in  the  same  manner.  Then  come 
selected  tales  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  still  later  selec¬ 
tions  from  the  Odyssey,  the  Norse  Sagas,  Shakespeare,  He¬ 
rodotus,  Livy,  Xenophon,  and  others  in  due  order.  In  this 
way  the  historical  sense  is  developed  and  centers  of  interest 
created,  before  technical  instruction  begins. 

Several  points  occurring  in  this  account  of  German 
schools  challenge  consideration.  The  first  is,  that  it  does 
not  so  much  matter  when  the  first  lessons  are  given,  provided 
they  are  of  the  right  kind.  The  second  is,  that  the  first  con¬ 
nected  school  lessons  should  relate  to  the  pupil’s  own  coun¬ 
try  or  home  region.  Such  lessons  will  throw  a  glow  of  in¬ 
terest  upon  the  parallel  lessons  in  geography  and  stimulate 
patriotism.  The  third  is,  that  the  story  should  be  the  form 
in  which  the  instruction  is  cast.  Reference  has  been  made 
in  an  earlier  chapter  to  the  marked  influence  of  history  in 
developing  patriotism  in  the  Jews.  It  may  be  added  that  no 
people  ever  found  more  admirable  material  for  such  a  pur¬ 
pose.  The  stories  of  the  Old  Testament — of  Abraham,  Joseph, 
Moses,  David,  and  Daniel — that  cling  so  closely  to  the 
memory,  are  parts  of  their  national  history,  and  not  merely, 
as  with  us,  moral  and  religious  lessons.  The  supervising 
authority  makes  the  number  of  facts  to  be  taught,  and  even 
the  particular  facts,  as  definite  as  possible — it  would  seem 
too  definite.  For  example,  in  the  elementary  schools  of  Ber¬ 
lin  one  hundred  and  sixteen  particular  dates  are  required 
to  he  memorized.  In  the  elementary  school  little  use  is 
made  of  the  text-book.  The  Germans  keep  clearly  in  view, 
as  an  American  writer  puts  it,  that  “  at  least  three  fourths 
of  all  the  time  spent  by  a  boy  of  twelve  in  trying  to  learn  a 
hard  lesson  out  of  a  book  is  time  thrown  away.  Perhaps 
one  fourth  of  the  time  is  devoted  to  more  or  less  desperate 
and  conscious  effort ;  ^but  the  large  remaining  portion  is 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 


59 


dawdled  away  in  thinking  of  the  last  game  of  ball  and  long¬ 
ing  for  the  next  game  of  tag.” 

Because  only  one  fourth  of  the  time  that  a  hoy  of  twelve 
spends  in  learning  a  history  lesson,  or  any  other  lesson,  out 
of  a  book  is  efficacious,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  should 
make  no  use  of  books.  The  end  of  scholastic  discipline  is 
power  to  get  all  the  knowledge  and  truth,  thought  and  fancy, 
wit  and  wisdom,  from  the  printed  page  that  it  holds — an  end 
that  can  he  reached  only  when  the  teacher  keeps  it  steadily 
in  view  from  the  beginning.  Of  necessity,  a  child’s  first 
tuition  is  oral,  but  he  must  be  progressively  introduced  to 
hooks.  Hence  the  teacher  who  persists  in  saving  for  the 
present  the  time  dawdled  away  over  the  book,  will  lose  it  in 
the  end.  A  child  can  learn  to  use  books  only  by  using  them. 
The  judicious  mingling  of  oral  and  book  lessons  is  indeed 
no  easy  matter.  Doubtless  too  much  stress  was  formerly 
placed  on  book  lessons  ;  possibly  too  little  stress  is  placed 
upon  them  at  present.  At  least,  a  well-trained  pupil  twelve 
years  of  age  should  begin  to  depend  upon  a  historical  text¬ 
book.  Of  course,  he  has  been  reading  books  of  tales,  stories, 
and  the  like  from  the  time  that  he  could  first  read  at  all. 

The  advantages  of  oral  teaching  are  vivacity  and  inter¬ 
est  ;  the  disadvantages  are  vagueness  and  incompleteness. 
The  pupil  studying  history  is  almost  certain  to  get  too  many 
indefinite  and  general  ideas,  and  too  few  fixed  and  definite 
facts.  This  failure  the  German  teacher  seeks  to  overcome 
by  making  the  path  to  be  trodden  plain  and  straight,  and 
then  by  going  over  it  again  and  again.  It  should  be  noticed 
also  that  the  printed  outline  which  he  puts  into  the  child’s 
hand  is  the  skeleton  of  the  instruction.  The  disadvantages  of 
the  text-book  in  the  upper  classes  of  the  elementary  schools 
are  lack  of  intelligence  and  interest — a  fatal  defect  unless  it 
can  be  overcome  ;  the  advantages  are  the  opportunity  for 
exactness  and  thoroughness.  The  two  elements  should  he 
thoroughly  blended — text-hook  lessons  and  oral  illustration. 
The  extremes  to  he  avoided  are  fact-cramming  on  the  one 
part,  and  flowing  talk  on  the  other. 


60 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


The  topical  method  of  study  has  gained  considerable 
currency.  Discarding  the  text-book,  the  teacher  prints  or 
writes  on  slips  of  paper,  or  puts  on  the  blackboard,  the  topics 
that  form  the  subjects  of  the  succeeding  lessons,  and  then 
sends  the  class  to  the  library,  or  such  other  sources  of  in¬ 
formation  as  they  have  at  hand,  furnishing  them,  of  course, 
the  needed  hints  and  directions  regarding  the  choice  of  books 
and  their  use.  Then  the  pupils  report  at  the  next  recitation, 
sometimes  orally,  and  sometimes  in  writing.  It  is  a  sort  of 
a  rudimentary  seminary,  of  which  more  will  soon  be  said. 

Well  handled,  this  method  has  undeniable  exceUences. 
It  creates  interest  and  the  spirit  of  investigation  ;  it  famil¬ 
iarizes  the  pupil  with  the  use  of  books  and  libraries  ;  it  sup¬ 
plies,  so  far  as  the  use  of  different  authorities  can  do  so,  a 
useful  check  on  hasty  opinion  and  over-confidence,  and  is  a 
good  introduction  to  the  methods  of  self-culture.  The  evils 
of  the  method  are  equally  obvious.  It  is  accompanied  by 
more  or  less  aimless  effort.  Thoroughly  worked,  it  con¬ 
sumes  much  time.  It  is  apt  to  land  the  pupil  in  the  region 
of  vague  information  and  general  impressions  rather  than 
of  definite  knowledge.  The  facts  and  ideas  acquired  are  lit¬ 
tle  likely  to  be  well  organized  or  integrated  in  the  mind. 
On  the  whole,  the  topical  method  in  an  exclusive  sense  can 
not  he  recommended  at  any  stage  of  progress.  An  exclusive 
use  of  it  in  the  elementary  school  would  be  preposterous,  in 
the  secondary  school  absurd,  in  the  college  a  mistake.  Still, 
at  no  stage  of  progress  after  the  preliminary  one  should  it 
be  wholly  discarded.  Some  topical  work  may  be  assigned 
in  the  elementary  school,  more  in  the  high  school  and  acad¬ 
emy,  and  still  more  in  the  college. 

The  principles  already  stated  will  enable  us  to  judge  of 
the  lecture.  Here  the  first  thing  to  be  said  is  that  the  formal 
lecture,  as  a  regular  means  of  instruction,  should  have  no 
place  below  the  college,  no  matter  what  the  subject  of  in¬ 
struction  may  be.  It  first  liquefies  in  vague  impressions, 
and  then  evaporates  in  talk  ;  or,  if  not,  then  the  teacher 
must  deliver  the  matter  so  slowly  that  the  pupil  can  write 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 


61 


down  everything  that  is  important,  thus  in  effect  making  a 
text-book  as  he  goes  along.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  pupil 
is  able  to  use  a  text-hook  to  advantage,  why  not  supply  him 
with  one  already  prepared,  making  it  the  basis  of  the  in¬ 
struction,  and  adding  the  needed  oral  amplification  ? 

In  the  coUege  the  case  is  somewhat  different.  Here  two 
points  may  be  urged  in  favor  of  the  lecture.  The  first  is, 
that  a  good  lecturer  will  generate  more  interest  and  enthu¬ 
siasm  than  a  teacher  conducting  hook  recitations,  and  so 
will  tend  to  send  his  students  to  the  library  to  investigate 
for  themselves.  The  other  is,  that,  seizing  bold  facts  and 
handling  large  generalizations,  he  will  help  the  student  thor¬ 
oughly  to  unify  and  organize  the  matter  which  it  is  most 
important  for  him  to  remember.  A  good  lecturer  can  do 
both  of  these  things  if  his  students  have  the  requisite  prep¬ 
aration — a  phrase  that  here  means  considerable  historical 
knowledge,  as  well  as  mental  discipline,  and  experience  in 
note-taking.  The  lecture  is  not  the  proper  vehicle  for  con¬ 
veying  elementary  knowledge  of  history.  Experience  often 
shows  that  courses  of  lectures  that  have  been  taken  with 
interest  and  are  recalled  with  pleasure,  have  left  little  behind 
them  save  mistaken  notions  and  vague  ideas.  The  lecturer 
will  therefore  find  it  extremely  advantageous  to  put  into  his 
students’  hands  a  text-book  of  moderate  size,  running  along 
the  line  of  his  course,  requiring  them  to  read  thoroughly 
designated  portions  of  it  in  advance.  The  book  will  serve 
•  as  a  path-breaker.  For  example,  Seebohm’s  Protestant  Revo¬ 
lution  would  admirably  guide  a  course  of  lectures  on  the 
Reformation.  References  to  the  needed  authorities  will  be 
given  as  a  matter  of  course.  Or,  if  the  lecturer  can  not  find 
a  hand-book  to  his  mind,  he  should  at  least  furnish  his 
students  with  a  printed  syllabus  of  his  lectures,  both  to 
assist  them  in  breaking  the  ground  and  to  furnish  a  mechan¬ 
ism  for  the  distribution  of  the  matter. 

Of  its  kind,  I  know  nothing  that  is  better  than  Dr.  Alex¬ 
ander  Bain’s  essay  entitled  The  Art  of  Study.  I  venture  to 
quote  three  or  four  short  paragraphs  ;  save  the  last  one,  it 


62 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


willj  be  seen  that  they  have  no  exclusive  reference  to  his¬ 
tory  : 

Our  first  maxim  is,  “  Select  a  text-book-in-chief/*  The  mean¬ 
ing  is,  that  when  a  large  subject  is  to  be  overtaken  by  book  study 
alone,  some  one  work  should  be  chosen  to  apply  to,  in  the  first  in¬ 
stance,  which  work  should  be  conned  and  mastered  before  any 
other  is  taken  up.  There  being,  in  most  subjects,  a  variety  of  good 
books,  the  thorough  student  will  not  be  satisfied  in  the  long  run 
without  consulting  several,  and  perhaps  making  a  study  of  them  all ; 
yet  it  is  unwise  to  distract  the  attention  with  more  than  one,  while 
the  elements  are  to  be  learned.  In  geometry  the  pupil  begins  upon 
Euclid,  or  some  other  compendium,  and  is  not  allowed  to  deviate 
from  the  single  line  of  his  author.  If  he  is  once  thoroughly  at  home 
on  the  main  ideas  and  the  leading  propositions  of  geometry,  he  is 
safe  in  dipping  into  other  manuals,  in  comparing  the  differences  of 
treatment,  and  in  widening  his  knowledge  by  additional  theorems, 
and  by  various  modes  of  demonstration.  .  .  . 

Undoubtedly  the  best  of  all  ways  of  learning  anything  is  to 
have  a  competent  master  to  dole  out  a  fixed  quantity  every  day,  just 
sufficient  to  be  taken  in,  and  no  more ;  the  pupils  to  apply  them¬ 
selves  to  the  matter  so  imparted,  and  to  do  nothing  else.  The 
singleness  of  aim  is  favorable  to  the  greatest  rapidity  of  acquire¬ 
ment  ;  and  any  defects  are  to  be  left  out  of  account,  until  one  thread 
of  ideas  is  firmly  set  in  the  mind.  Not  infrequently,  however,  and 
not  improperly,  the  teacher  has  a  text-book  in  aid  of  his  oral  in¬ 
structions.  To  make  this  a  help,  and  not  a  hindrance,  demands  the 
greatest  delicacy ;  the  sole  consideration  being  that  the  pupil  must 
be  kept  in  one  single  line  of  thought^  and  never  be  required  to  com¬ 
prehend,  on  the  same  point,  conflicting  or  varying  statements.  Even 
the  foot-notes  to  a  work  may  have  to  be  disregarded  in  the  first 
instance.  They  may  act  like  a  second  author,  and  keep  up  an  irri¬ 
tating  friction.  .  .  . 

The  subjects  that  depend  for  their  full  comprehension  upon  a 
certain  method  and  order  of  details  are  numerous,  and  include  the 
most  important  branches  of  human  culture.  The  sciences,  in  mass, 
are  avowedly  of  this  character ;  even  such  departments  as  theology, 
ethics,  rhetoric,  and  criticism  have  their  definite  form ;  and*  until 
the  mind  of  the  student  is  fully  impressed  with  this,  all  the  particu- 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 


63 


lars  are  vague  and  chaotic,  and  comparatively  useless  for  practical 
application.  So,  any  subject  cast  in  a  polemic  form  must  be  re¬ 
ceived  and  held  in  the  connection  thereby  given  to  it.  If  the  argu¬ 
ments  pro  and  con  fall  out  of  their  places  in  the  mind  of  the  reader, 
their  force  is  missed  or  misconceived. 

History  is  pre-eminently  a  subject  for  method,  and  therefore 
involves  some  such  plan  as  is  here  recommended.  Every  narrative 
read  otherwise  than  for  mere  amusement,  as  we  read  a  novel,  should 
leave  in  the  mind  (1)  the  chronological  sequence  (more  or  less  de¬ 
tailed)  and  (2)  the  causal  sequence — that  is,  the  influences  at  work 
in  bringing  about  the  events.  These  are  best  gained  by  application 
to  a  single  work  in  the  first  place ;  other  works  being  resorted  to  in 
due  time. 

It  will  be  observed  that  Dr.  Bain  lays  down  three  funda¬ 
mental  propositions,  viz. :  1.  In  the  early  days  of  education 
instruction  must  be  narrow.  2.  It  must  be  thorough.  3. 
Only  when  the  pupil  is  “  thoroughly  at  home  on  the  main 
ideas,”  only  when  “  one  thread  of  ideas  is  firmly  set  in  the 
mind,”  only  when  “  one  single  line  of  though tj”  has  been 
wrought  into  the  mental  substance,  should  the  teacher  be¬ 
gin  to  be  discursive  and  ‘‘  broaden  ”  the  work.  In  history, 
what  folly  to  fall  to  comparing,  interpreting,  and  discussing 
before  the  pupil  has  amassed  a  store  of  facts  on  which  to  set 
his  refiective  faculties  at  work  !  In  dealing  with  the  history 
of  a  country  or  nation,  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  fix  in 
the  pupil’s  mind  firmly  the  main  points — an  outline — a 
framework — in  which  he  can  dispose  and  arrange  minor 
facts  and  details  as  he  requires  them  ;  or,  to  change  the 
figure,  to  provide  his  mind  with  a  supply  of  hooks  and  pegs 
on  which  he  can  hang  up,  in  proper  order  and  in  due  rela¬ 
tion,  new  facts  and  ideas  as  he  masters  them. 

It  may  be  added  that  readers  made  up  of  lessons  devoted 
to  some  one  subject,  as  geography  or  history,  no  doubt  have 
a  certain  use  in  schools.  They  are  useful,  however,  as  read¬ 
ers  rather  than  as  geographies  or  histories.  Experience 
shows  that  ordinary  reading  lessons  are  not  an  effective 
vehicle  of  specific  instruction  in  any  branch  of  knowledge. 


64 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


While  the  historical  reader  will  supplement  the  regular  in¬ 
struction  in  history,  it  can  not  be  made  to  take  the  place  of 
the  regular  text-book. 

In  this  survey  the  lesson  must  not  be  overlooked. 
The  teacher  should  not  encourage  or  permit  the  pupil  to  de¬ 
pend  upon  the  language  of  an  author,  save  where  language 
is  a  real  part  of  the  substance.  His  business  is  not to  sit 
behind  a  book  and  hear  pupils  say  their  lessons.”  Recita¬ 
tions  that  closely  follow  the  text  commonly  show  that  the 
attention  has  been  fixed  on  the  words  rather  than  on  the 
matter.  A  memory  that  lays  hold  of  subject-matter  should 
be  stimulated  rather  than  a  merely  verbal  memory.  Now 
and  then  we  meet  a  mind  that  takes  up  everything,  words 
and  matter  alike,  but  such  minds  are  few  and  far  between. 
In  his  teaching  days  General  Garfield  sometimes  told  of  a 
student  of  his  who  commanded  much  admiration  by  a  recita¬ 
tion  of  a  two-and-a-haK-page  description  of  a  theodoHte,  but 
who  showed  plainly  enough  before  the  close  of  the  hour 
that  he  had  merely  committed  to  memory  the  words,  and 
that  he  had  no  conception  of  the  construction,  adjustment, 
and  use  of  the  instrument  that  he  had  described  with  such 
volubility.  Once  more,  the  practice  of  picking  out  of  stu¬ 
dents’  minds  the  points  of  a  lesson  by  special  questions,  and 
especially  by  questions  which  suggest  the  answer,  can  not 
be  too  strongly  condemned.  I  recall  some  college  students 
who  often  related  with  much  glee  how  their  professor,  sit¬ 
ting  behind  Green’s  Short  History,  asked  a  halting  student 
“  Was  there  liberty  ?  ”  and  received  the  prompt  reply,  “  There 
was  liberty.” 

The  proper  method  is  to  assign  to  each  pupil  a  topic,  re¬ 
quiring  him  to  develop  it  in  his  own  way,  and  then,  when 
he  has  finished,  to  bring  out  by  question  and  answer  such 
points  as  need  further  attention,  unless,  indeed,  he  has  made 
so  poor  a  recitation  that  the  topic  should  be  assigned  to  a 
second  pupil.  In  this  way  freedom,  resource,  and  good  prep¬ 
aration  will  be  promoted.  The  recitations  may  be  clumsy 
and  halting  at  first,  but  they  will  soon  gain  in  fullness  and 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 


65 


freedom.  Accordingly,  a  text-book  that  carefully  analyzes 
the  matter,  especially  a  book  that  makes  use  of  side-heads, 
is  a  distinct  advantage  ;  and  if  such  analysis  is  lacking,  the 
teacher  should  show  the  class  how  to  make  one  for  them¬ 
selves.  The  teacher  may  make  out  a  list  of  topics  on  paper 
to  be  used  in  conducting  the  recitation  ;  hut  in  no  case 
should  he  suffer  himself  to  become  dependent  upon  his  book. 
The  oral  amplification  may  be  given  as  the  topics  pass  by,  or 
at  the  close  of  the  lesson,  as  circumstances  may  determine. 

Of  quizzes,  reviews,  and  examinations  little  need  he  said. 
It  can  not  be  held  that  they  are  more  or  less  useful  in  teach¬ 
ing  history  than  in  teaching  other  subjects  that  are  made  up 
largely  of  fact  material.  The  office  of  such  exercises  in 
brightening  the  memory  and  the  imagination,  and  in  more 
thoroughly  organizing  facts  that  have  been  acquired,  thus 
constituting  proper  knowledge,  is  well  understood  by  good 
teachers.  It  should,  however,  be  plainly  stated  that  the 
quiz  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  lecture  method  when  it  is  made 
truly  effective. 

Before  passing  to  the  final  topic,  it  is  important  to  ob¬ 
serve  that  in  the  choice  and  combination  of  methods  a  great ^ 
deal  depends  upon  the  teacher  as  well  as  upon  the  class. 
Good  lecturers  sometimes  fail  as  text-book  teachers,  and  per¬ 
haps  good  text-book  teachers  still  more  frequently  fail  as 
lecturers. 

The  Germans,  deeply  impressed  by  the  value  and  even 
necessity  to  university  students  of  original  studies,  invented 
the  Seminar^  as  a  means  whereby  such  students  could  carry 
on  such  studies  in  various  branches  of  knowledge,  history 
included,  under  the  direction  of  a  competent  professor.  In 
its  native  country  it  has  abundantly  justified  its  invention. 
Translated  to  the  United  States,  and  baptized  the  “semina¬ 
ry,”  it  is  justifying  itself  over  again.  Only  two  or  three 
things  need  be  said  about  the  historical  seminary  in  this 
place. 

The  first  is,  that  its  proper  function  lies  in  the  field  of 
original  work.  From  this  it  follows  necessarily  that  the^ 


66 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


students  admitted  to  it  should  be  picked  students,  not  only 
mature  of  mind,  but  already  well  instructed  in  history  and 
its  methods,  and  able  by  reason  of  practice  to  carry  on  to 
advantage  lines  of  independent  study  under  general  super¬ 
vision.  It  follows  also  that  the  professor  himself  should  be 
a  picked  man,  well  acquainted  with  original  sources  and 
other  authorities,  and  capable  of  directing  and  inspiring 
students.  These  points  it  is  important  to  state  in  the  plain¬ 
est  language,  because  there  is  reason  to  fear  a  more  or  less 
general  travesty  of  “  seminary  methods  ”  the  country  over. 
The  lecture  has  already  made  its  way  into  some  strange 
places,  and  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  see  the  seminary  fol¬ 
low  in  its  wake. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  FACTS. 

References, — See  previous  references  to  pedagogical  writers  and 
historical  specialists.  Also  Guizot:  History  of  Civilization  {pas¬ 
sim)  ;  Mace :  Papers  of  the  American  Historical  Association,  V.,  Nos. 
1.  and  II.  (The  Organization  of  Historical  Material).  On  Organiza¬ 
tion  and  Systematization,  see  the  current  text- writers  on  psychology. 

A  DISTINGUISHED  French  writer  lately  deceased,  M.  Taine, 
says  the  word  “  to  organize,”  which  he  dates  from  the  Revo¬ 
lution  and  the  First  Empire,  “  summarizes  the  success  of 
well-ordered  and  distrihutive  reason,  the  vast  and  happy 
effects  of  the  art  which  consists  in  simplifying,  classifying, 
and  subtracting.”  No  art  is  so  necessary  to  the  teacher, 
either  in  the  sphere  of  administration  or  in  the  sphere  of  in¬ 
struction.  I  shall  first  explain  what  this  art  is,  and  then 
make  a  particular  application  to  history. 

We  may  roughly  divide  school  studies  into  two  groups. 
Those  of  the  first  group  begin  with  certain  fundamental  and 
intuitive  ideas,  and  proceed  by  means  of  deduction.  They 
are  the  proper  logical  studies,  and  the  best  examples  of  them 
are  the  pure  mathematics.  Mathematical  data  are  defini¬ 
tions  and  axioms,  facts  of  the  mind  and  not  of  observation ; 
the  great  aim  of  the  teacher  is  to  point  out,  and  of  the  pupil 
to  discover,  the  necessary  relations  existing  between  these 
data,  and  so  to  build  them,  and  the  other  truths  that  are  dis¬ 
covered  on  the  way,  into  an  orderly  and  symmetrical  whole 
called  algebra,  or  geometry.  Such,  in  the  mathematical 
sphere,  is  organization. 

Studies  of  the  second  group  begin  with  observed  object- 


68 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


ive  facts,  and  proceed  by  induction.  These  data  are  empiric 
cal  and  not  logical  ideas.  The  primal  mental  operations 
are  not  those  of  intuition,  conception,  and  reasoning,  but 
observation  and  memory.  Books  are  secondary  sources  of 
information,  and  can  be  understood  only  through  a  pre¬ 
viously  acquired  store  of  primary  and  personal  information.. 
The  facts  that  we  have  seen  explain  to  us  the  facts  which  we 
hear  or  read.  Examples  of  such  studies  are  botany,  zoology, 
the  natural  sciences  generally,  geography,  and  history. 

The  successful  prosecution  of  any  one  of  this  second* 
group  of  studies  involves  the  accumulation  of  a  large  fund 
of  facts,  but  also  something  more.  Facts  of  themselves  do  • 
not  constitute  proper  knowledge ;  they  are  at  best  but  infor¬ 
mation,  and  the  man  who  possesses  them  in  the  largest 
abundance  is  not  necessarily  the  best  instructed  man. 
Facts  do  not  exist  separate  and  alone  either  in  Nature  or 
history  ;  they  are  always  connected,  and  they  can  not  be 
understood  or  explained  out  of  their  connections.  The 
bones  of  the  human  body  thrown  loosely  into  a  box  are  not 
a  skeleton  ;  a  pile  of  dry  plants  is  not  an  herbarium ;  they 
must  be  brought  together  and  secured  in  their  natural  rela¬ 
tions.  The  possession  of  a  mass  of  botanical  or  geographical 
facts,  no  matter  how  large,  does  not  make  a  man  a  botanist 
or  a  geographer  ;  his  facts  must  be  organized,  fact  brought 
to  its  related  fact,  as  bone  to  its  related  bone.  In  other 
words,  these  studies  are  not  wholly  empirical,  but  partly 
logical  as  well  ;  the  studies,  in  fact,  do  not  exist  until  the 
many  are  reduced  to  the  one,  and  unity  is  seen  in  diversity  ; 
until,  that  is,  the  primary  data  are  viewed  under  a  philo¬ 
sophical  aspect.  We  speak  of  the  organization  of  knowl- 
ledge,  sometimes  forgetting,  perhaps,  that  knowledge  is  the 
product  of  organization.  Science  has  no  place  for  rudes  et 
indigestas  moles. 

Without  its  power  of  integration  or  organization  the- 
mind  would  be  feeble  indeed.  As  says  Sir  William  Hamil¬ 
ton,  “  We  are  lost  in  the  multitude  of  the  objects  presented 
to  our  observation,  and  it  is  only  by  assorting  them  in 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  FACTS. 


69 


^classes  that  we  can  reduce  the  infinity  of  Nature  to  the 
finitude  of  mind.”  He  quotes  Anaxagoras,  ‘'The  mind 
knows  when  it  subdues  its  objects,  when  it  reduces  the  many 
to  the  one  ”  ;  and  remarks  himself,  “  All  languages  express 
the  mental  operations  by  words  which  denote  a  reduction  of 
the  many  to  the  one,”  as  synthesis,”  “  cogitate,”  conceive,” 
“  comprehend,”  “  cognize,”  and  many  more. 

Too  much  stress  can  not  be  placed  on  organization  as  es¬ 
sential  to  real  knowledge.  But,  further,  it  is  as  necessary  to 
its  retention  as  to  its  acquirement.  The  memory  is  unable 
to  cope  with  much  unrelated  and  discursive  material — that 

is,  facts  can  no  more  be  remembered  irrespective  of  their 
relations  than  they  can  be  understood  and  explained.  It  is 
easier  to  remember  two  things  in  relation  than  either  one 
:  separately.  In  fact,  no  one  thing  can  be  remembered  sepa¬ 
rately.  Within  limits,  we  lighten  the  burden  by  increasing 

it.  The  operations  of  the  memory  are  controlled  by  the  laws 
of  association  ;  and  the  laws  of  association  govern  the  or¬ 
ganization  of  empirical  data. 

These  two  elements  run  parallel  throughout  the  study 
'Of  history,  as  throughout  all  other  fact  studies,  but  in  quite 
•diflPerent  proportions  in  different  periods.  Facts  continue  to 
be  the  subject-matter  to  the  end  of  the  course  ;  logical  ideas 
are  present  at  its  beginning.  The  simplest  narrative  or  tale 
involves  at  least  two  facts  or  incidents,  and  so  the  idea  of 
time  or  succession.  The  facts  of  environment,  or  spatial 
relation,  also  occur  at  once,  and  the  idea  of  cause  is  not 
long  in  appearing.  While  these  ideas  need  not  be  made 
the  subject  of  abstract  thought,  and  at  first  should  not  be, 
they  will  nevertheless  be  present  in  the  mind  of  the  teacher, 
and  will  gradually  work  their  way  into  the  mind  of  the 
pupil. 

Individual  events  compose  a  series  of  events  ;  but  to  un¬ 
derstand  the  events  singly,  it  is  as  necessary  to  have  a  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  series  as  it  is  to  have  a  knowledge  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual  facts  in  order  to  understand  the  series.  All  organ¬ 
ized  knowledge  begins  with  learning  a  certain  number  of 


70 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


facts  and  truths;  and  these  must  not  be  Hmited  in  their 
range,  but  comprehensive.  No  individual  square  mile  or 
acre  of  the  earth’s  surface  can  be  explained  in  itself  alone  ; 
no  individual  country,  island,  or  continent  can  be  thus  de¬ 
scribed  ;  to  understand  even  the  smallest  geographical  unit, 
one  must  have  some  knowledge  of  the  whole  globe.  The 
moon  can  be  described  only  in  relation  to  the  earth,  the  earth 
only  in  relation  to  the  sun,  the  sun  only  in  relation  to  its 
system  and  the  heavens  as  a  whole.  No  one  can  appreciate 
the  significance  of  a  missing  link,  or  even  have  an  idea  of 
what  a  link  is,  until  he  has  previously  learned  something  of 
the  chain  of  which  it  is  a  part.  We  can  explain  the  growth 
and  prosperity  of  a  city  only  by  taking  account  of  the  region 
that  contributes  to  its  population  and  wealth.  A  man  at 
any  particular  period  of  his  career — as  Cromwell  when  he 
became  Lord  Protector,  Napoleon  when  he  assumed  the  im¬ 
perial  crown,  or  Lincoln  when  he  was  inaugurated  President 
— is  an  absolute  enigma,  cut  off  from  his  own  previous  life 
and  the  life  of  his  country.  The  earth  brings  forth  fruit  of 
herself,  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn 
in  the  ear.  Thus,  in  all  things  there  is  an  order  of  succes¬ 
sion  founded  on  the  law  formulated  by  Mr.  Spencer : 
“  There  can  be  no  correct  idea  of  a  part  without  a  correct 
idea  of  the  correlative  whole.” 

We  must  learn  some  individual  facts  before  we  can  take 
up  the  series  ;  we  must  go  from  the  individual  to  the  gen¬ 
eral,  and  yet  the  individual  is  never  fully  understood  until 
it  is  considered  in  connection  with  the  general.  Hence  the 
teaching  of  history  involves  :  (1)  Fixing  permanently  in  the 
mind  those  single  facts  that  determine  the  general  move¬ 
ment,  or  some  selected  portion  of  it  ;  (2)  study  of  the  rela¬ 
tions  of  these  facts  in  the  development  of  society ;  (3)  a  more 
thorough  investigation  of  social  and  political  elements,  with 
a  special  reference  to  causal  relations. 

This  analysis  corresponds  in  a  general  way  to  the  three 
stages  of  educational  progress.  The  fact  element  will  be 
found  in  the  third  stage,  the  logical  element  in  the  first 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  FACTS. 


71 


stage  ;  the  characteristic  differences  being  the  kinds  of  facts 
and  relations  dealt  with  in  the  different  stages  and  the  rela¬ 
tive  stress  laid  upon  them.  What  a  distinguished  pedagog- 
ist  says  of  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  in  general,  is  particu¬ 
larly  true  of  geographical  and  historical  knowledge  : 

The  elementary  school  will  always  have  the  character  of  memory 
work  stamped  upon  it,  no  matter  how  much  the  educational  re¬ 
formers  may  improve  its  methods.  It  is  not  easy  to  overvalue  the 
impulse  of  such  men  as  Pestalozzi  and  Froebel.  But  the  child’s  mind 
cannot  seize  great  syntheses.  He  bites  off,  as  it  were,  only  small 
fragments  of  truth  at  best.  He  gets  isolated  data,  and  sees  only 
feebly  the  vast  network  of  interrelation  in  the  world.  This  frag¬ 
mentary,  isolated  character  belongs  essentially  to  primary  education. 
But  just  as  surely  does  secondary  education  deal  with  relations  and 
functions  and  processes.  It  is  the  stage  of  crude  generalization. 
But  college  education  strives  to  superinduce  on  the  mind  the  habit 
of  seeing  the  unity  of  things.  The  curriculum  of  the  college  is 
therefore  called  the  philosophical  faculty,  using  the  word  “  faculty  ” 
in  the  French  sense  of  the  word  faculte,  * 

Accordingly,  the  main  thing  that  the  teacher  of  history 
in  the  primary  school  has  to  do,  and  largely  so  in  the  sec¬ 
ondary  school,  is  to  teach  facts.  The  facts  taught  in  these 
schools  constitute  the  very  foundations  of  the  whole  after 
superstructure.  While  facts  do  not  make  a  man  a  historian, 
he  cannot  be  a  historian  without  them.  Teachers  of  a 
philosophical  turn  may  dislike  this  humble  work  ;  they  may 
speak  of  it  contemptuously  as  “  mere  memorizing,”  but  no 
real  educator  speaks  slightingly  of  the  memory.  The  com¬ 
mon  sense  of  mankind  rightly  adjudges  praise  to  the  man 
having  a  rich  store  of  information.! 


*  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  :  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Education,  1888-’89,  Iviii. 
t  The  current  depreciation  of  the  memory  is  largely  unreasonable  and 
mischievous.  To  exalt  the  logical  faculties  is  all  right;  to  belittle  the 
faculties  ot  retention  and  reproduction  is  all  wrong.  It  is  not  impertinent 
to  say  that  if  a  man  has  a  fine  memory  there  is  no  reason  why  he  should 
be  ashamed  of  it.  Professor  James  may  be  quoted  on  the  broader  aspect  of 
this  subject ; 


72 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


No  doubt  a  majority  of  teachers  have  heretofore  com¬ 
mitted  a  serious  mistake  at  this  point.  They  have  striven 
by  sheer  force  of  repetition  to  crowd  as  many  facts  as  pos¬ 
sible  into  the  pupil’s  mind.  Nor  were  these  facts  always  by 
any  means  well  chosen.  They  paid  little  attention  to  the 
pupil’s  power  of  assimilation,  and  perhaps  still  less  to  the 
org*anization  of  what  they  taught.  They  largely  lost  the 
meaning  of  facts,  the  stream  of  thought,  the  life  of  the  ac¬ 
tion,  the  interest  of  the  story.  Such  teaching  is  unspeak¬ 
ably  dry  and  uninteresting,  and  is  worse  than  no  teaching 
at  all.  It  is  far  better  to  leave  the  child  to  such  spontane¬ 
ous  interest  in  history  as  may  spring  up  within  him,  than  to 
blunt  the  edge  of  his  mind  with  mere  tables  of  dates  and 
other  indigestible  material.  The  “philosophy  of  history” 
may  be  a  large  phrase  for  the  elementary  teacher,  but  what 
will  lead  up  to  it  should  find  a  place  in  the  elementary 
school. 

Things  must  be  done  in  their  proper  time  and  according 
to  their  just  measure.  The  old  teachers  whom  I  have  criti¬ 
cised  are  not  so  far  out  of  the  way  as  those  new  ones  who 
teach  nothing  that  is  definite  or  particular,  but  waste  their 
time  and  effort  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  impart  general  views 
and  large  relations  for  which  their  pupils  are  not  prepared. 
It  is  folly  to  speak  of  the  relations  existing  between  facts  that 
the  pupil  does  not  know  ;  to  mention  cause  and  effect  until 
the  antecedent  and  consequent  have  been  grasped  ;  to  seek 
to  organize  materials  that  have  never  been  gathered.  With 

“No  one  probably  was  ever  effective  on  a  voluminous  scale  without  a 
high  degree  of  this  physiological  retentiveness.  In  the  practical  as  in  the 
theoretic  life,  the  man  whose  acquisitions  stick  is  the  man  who  is  always 
achieving  and  advancing ;  whilst  his  neighbors,  spending  most  of  their  time 
in  relearning  what  they  once  knew  but  have  forgotten,  simply  hold  their 
own.  A  Charlemagne,  a  Luther,  a  Leibnitz,  a  Walter  Scott — any  example, 
in  short,  of  your  quarto  or  folio  editions  of  mankind — must  needs  have 
amazing  retentiveness  of  the  purely  physiological  sort.  Men  without  this 
retentiveness  may  excel  in  the  quality  of  their  work  at  this  point  or  at  that, 
but  will  never  do  such  mighty  sums  of  it,  or  be  influential  contemporane¬ 
ously  on  such  a  scale.” — Psychology^  vol.  i^p.  660. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  FACTS. 


73 


relations,  as  such,  the  teacher  of  history  has  nothing  to  do. 
Relations  are  no  more  history  than  the  tendons  which  hold 
his  bones  together  are  a  man’s  anatomy. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  observe  that  the  organization  of 
knowledge  is  not  the  same  thing  as  discoursing  about  its  or¬ 
ganization.  Either  of  these  things  may  be  present  without 
the  other.  The  wise  teacher  will  put  facts  in  their  proper 
relations  from  the  very  first  stage  of  his  work  ;  he  will  di¬ 
rect  the  attention  of  the  pupil  to  relations  progressively  as 
the  pupil  is  ready  to  receive  them  ;  he  will  give  them  the 
largest  place  when  he  comes  to  deal  with  methods  of  his¬ 
torical  investigation. 

At  the  end  of  this  chapter  I  may  state  the  categories  or 
principles  with  reference  to  which  historical  facts  should  be 
grouped  or  organized  : 

1.  Time,  or  the  chronological  relation. 

2.  Place,  or  the  geographical  relation. 

3.  Cause  and  effect  or  the  causal  relation. 

This  is  exhaustive  of  the  subject.  However,  as  the  per¬ 
sonal  element  is  so  prominent,  it  will  be  wise,  particularly  in 
elementary  work,  to  divide  the  third  category,  and  to  group 
such  facts  as  conspicuously  admit  of  it  with  reference  to  per¬ 
sonal  agents.  Two  cautionary  remarks  should  be  added. 

The  first  is,  that  generalization  must  not  be  thrust  out  of 
its  place.  Such  a  work  as  Colonel  Dodge’s  Bird’s-eye  View 
of  Our  Civil  War,  or  Lavisse’s  General  View  of  the  Political 
History  of  Europe,  is  not  a  book  for  the  beginner  :  a  com¬ 
plete  conspectus  represents  the  end  of  historical  study. 

The  second  remark  is,  that  the  logical  element  in  history 
must  not  be  suffered  to  override  the  fact  element.  This  is  a 
point  of  no  small  danger,  particularly  in  advanced  study. 
Hamilton  observes  that  the  tendency  to  generalize  our 
knowledge  is  not  only  an  effective  means  of  discovery,  but 
likewise  an  abundant  source  of  error,”  illustrating  the  ob¬ 
servation  with  numerous  examples  of  the  substitution  of 
theory  and  hypothesis  for  fact.  Guizot  tells  us,  in  a  passage 
7 


u 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


that  I  shall  quote  at  len^h  in  another  place,  that  “  nothing 
tortures  history  more  than  logic.”  Some  one  has  perti¬ 
nently  observed  that  “  a  child  has  a  healthy  appetite  for 
facts  ;  he  likes  action  and  story  ”  ;  the  child  should  there¬ 
fore  be  suitably  served  with  facts,  action,  and  story  while 
he  craves  them,  postponing  theorizing  until  the  time  comes 
for  theories. 

There  are  three  questions  that  may  he  asked  about  every 
historical  fact,  besides  the  question  what  it  is  in  itself,  viz. : 
‘‘  When  was  it  ?  ”  “  Where  was  it  ?  ”  “  Why  was  it  ?  ”  And 
the  teacher’s  success  in  a  large  degree  will  turn  on  the  skill¬ 
ful  handling  of  these  questions. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY  :  CHRONOLOGY. 

References. — The  best  practical  suggestions  on  the  handling  of 
dates  are  found  in  the  pedagogical  writers.  Wells  has  good  re¬ 
marks  ;  see  also  Schaff  and  Carlyle,  previous  references.  Freeman : 
Four  Lectures  on  European  History  and  The  Unity  of  History. 
For  a  division  of  our  own  history,  The  Epochs  of  American  His¬ 
tory  Series  may  be  commended.  The  numerous  chronological 
schemes,  charts,  and  dictionaries  of  dates  give  information  rather 
than  method.  On  the  science  of  chronology  and  chronological  sys¬ 
tems,  the  articles  on  those  subjects  in  the  cyclopaedias  may  be  con¬ 
sulted. 

History  is  dynamic,  not  static.  It  is  action  or  move¬ 
ment.  Hence  the  historian  has  by  no  means  discharged  his 
function  when  he  has  inventoried  historical  facts  as  they 
existed  at  a  given  time,  or  described  a  particular  situation. 
He  does  indeed  sometimes  give  such  an  inventory  or  descrip¬ 
tion,  hut  this  he  does  on  account  of  something  that  has  gone 
before  or  of  something  that  is  to  foUow  after. 

All  action  or  movement  is  in  time.  Without  time  the 
very  idea  is  impossible.  The  mere  facts  of  history  as  facts 
could  be  inventoried  without  regard  to  time,  like  the  facts 
of  geography  or  chemistry,  and  thus  treated  they  might 
have  a  certain  value  ;  but  such  an  inventory  would  not  be 
history.  There  would  be  no  life  or  action,  no  development 
or  evolution,  no  progress  or  becoming.  Chronology  has 
therefore  been  caUed  one  of  the  two  eyes  of  history. 

The  practical  conclusion  which  we  reach  is,  that  the 
teacher  of  history  must  pay  attention  to  time  relations  and 


76  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

] 

to  dates.  But  what  dates  ?  how  many  dates  ?  and  how  shall 
the  dates  be  taught  ?  Before  attempting  answers  to  these 
questions,  we  must  pay  attention  to  some  preliminary 
matters. 

The  child’s  first  lesson  in  chronology  is  the  formation  of 
the  ideas  expressed  by  the  words  “  before  ”  and  “  after,”  or 
the  relation  of  succession.  He  learns  that  some  things  arc, 
that  others  were^  and  afterward  generalizes  these  ideas  as  the 
present  and  the  past.  His  next  lesson  is  to  mark  more 
definitely  the  relation  of  past  events  to  the  present ;  he  now 
struggles  with  the  question.  How  long  ?  He  becomes  famil¬ 
iar  with  the  phrases  “  this  morning,”  “  yesterday,”  “  a  week 
ago,”  and  the  like,  slowly  finding  out  their  meaning  by  per¬ 
sonal  experience.  At  first  the  statements  that  Solomon 
lived  twenty-five  hundred  years  ago,  Julius  Caesar  two  thou- 
isand  years  ago,  and  Washington  a  century  ago,  mean  little 
more  than  that  these  men  are  now  dead,  and  that  they  died 
in  the  order  named.  Practically,  you  might  as  well  say 
that  they  lived  twenty-five  years,  twenty  years  ago,  and  one 
year  ago.  The  steps  by  which  the  child  makes  his  way 
along  this  chronological  path  should  be  analyzed. 

1.  The  succession  of  one’s  bodily  sensations,  as  hunger 
and  thirst  and  weariness,  the  order  of  outward  events,  and 
the  train  of  his  ideas,  are  his  first  time  measures.  Rosalind 
is  a  good  psychologist  when  she  tells  Orlando  that  time  trots 
hard  with  a  young  maid  between  the  contract  of  her  mar¬ 
riage  and  the  day  it  is  solemnized,  that  he  ambles  with  a 
priest  who  lacks  Latin  and  a  rich  man  who  has  not  the 
gout,  that  he  gallops  hard  with  a  thief  to  the  gallows,  and 
stands  still  with  lawyers  in  their  vacations.  That  is,  time 
moves  at  a  more  rapid  pace  with  those  whose  minds  are 
fully  occupied,  provided  the  occupation  is  not  disagreeable. 
But  when  events  have  passed  into  memory  the  rule  changes  ; 
the  time  limits  within  which  we  can  recall  many  events  or 
thoughts  seem  widely  separated,  and  vice  versa.  But  these 
mental  time  measures  are  too  vague  and  misleading  to  an¬ 
swer  practical  purposes.  Still,  they  are  never  wholly  aban- 


THE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY:  CHRONOLOGY.  77 


doned.  A  man  without  a  watch  lost  in  the  forest,  or  work¬ 
ing  in  a  field  on  a  cloudy  day,  takes  account  of  just  such  ex¬ 
periences. 

2.  The  next  thing  is  the  adoption  of  some  fi.xed  measure 
or  measures.  These  are  found  in  Nature  :  the  day,  the  Latin 
for  which  means  ‘‘  shine,”  the  month,  or  moon,  which  signi- 
fi.es  “  measurer,”  and  the  year,  which  in  Latin  is  a  ring  or  cir¬ 
cle.  Then,  we  make  artificial  divisions  or  multiples  of  these 
natural  measures  :  the  hour,  minute,  and  second,  the  week, 
the  Olympiad,  the  jubilee,  the  decade,  and  the  century. 
Artificial  changes  are  also  made  in  the  units  themselves  : 
thus  the  lunar  and  the  calendar  months  do  not  coincide,  and 
the  solar  year  and  the  civil  year  are  not  quite  of  the  same 
length.  / 

Experience  only  can  teach  an  individual  the  real  mean¬ 
ing  and  application  of  these  measures.  While  the  succes¬ 
sions  of  sensation  and  ideas  can  by  no  means  take  the  place 
of  definite  time  standards,  they  are  just  as  essential  to  un¬ 
derstanding  them  as  experiences  of  color  and  sound  are  to 
an  understanding  of  the  color  and  sound  vocabularies. 
Thus,  life  alone  enables  us  to  form  the  conception  of  his¬ 
tory. 

The  process  just  described  is  similar  to  that  by  which  a 
man  measures  distance  with  his  eye.  He  learns  by  observa¬ 
tion  that  commonly  about  so  many  objects  are  seen  in  a 
mile  or  on  an  acre  of  ground  ;  looking  upon  an  expanse 
stretched  out  before  him  he  recognizes  once,  twice,  or  thrice 
that  number  of  objects  within  certain  limits  ;  and  then,  ob¬ 
serving  or  assuming  that  the  objects  thus  presented  are 
scattered  about  as  thickly  as  he  is  accustomed  to  see  them, 
he  concludes  that  the  distance  is  one,  two,  or  three  miles,  or 
the  surface  one,  two,  or  three  acres.  Or,  if  he  thinks  the 
objects  now  presented  are  closer  or  less  close  together,  he 
makes  the  necessary  allowance.  To  tell  a  person  who  has 
always  lived  within  the  four  walls  of  a  house  that  one  place 
is  a  hundred  miles  from  another  gives  him  nothing  more 
than  verbal  information  ;  but  if  he  has  ridden  across  the 


78 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


country  on  the  cars,  and  has  thus  formed  some  empirical  dis¬ 
tance  measures,  the  language  will  mean  something  to 
him. 

3.  The  next  step  in  the  evolution  of  a  system  of  chronol¬ 
ogy  is  to  fix  upon  a  starting  point  from  which  to  measure. 
Every  child  makes  the  present  his  first  chronological  era  ; 
he  counts  backward.  For  the  purposes  of  history,  there  are 
two  fatal  objections  to  this  mode  of  procedure  :  one  is,  that 
the  place  of  beginning  is  constantly  changing  ;  the  other, 
that  it  violates  the  order  of  historical  movement  by  requir¬ 
ing  the  mind  to  go  up-stream.  Hence  we  must  transport 
ourselves  into  the  past.  The  Jews  count  from  the  creation 
of  the  world,  Christians  from  the  birth  of  Christ,  Moham¬ 
medans  from  the  flight  of  the  Prophet  from  Mecca.  In 
every  such  case  the  starting  point  or  the  era  is  purely  arbi¬ 
trary,  and  may  rest  upon  a  mistaken  notion.  In  fact,  Christ 
was  born  four  years  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era,  as  fixed  by  the  authors  of  our  system  of  chronology. 

4.  Having  provided  ourselves  with  a  set  of  standards,  or  a 
measuring  line  duly  divided  and  marked,  and  adopted  a  base 
line,  we  are  now  ready  to  measure  and  to  mark  the  distances 
of  the  events  that  we  wish  to  locate,  both  from  the  base  and 
from  one  another.  Wrought  out  in  due  form  such  a  scheme 
is  called  a  system  of  chronology,  which  may  be  defined  as  an 
arrangement  or  exhibit  of  various  events  that  have  occurred 
in  history,  deemed  important,  in  the  order  of  their  succes¬ 
sion,  with  the  intervals  of  time  from  one  to  another  and 
from  the  era  previously  agreed  upon  suitably  designated.  A 
chronological  chart  has  therefore  been  aptly  compared  to  a 
geographical  map.  The  era  corresponds  to  the  prime  merid¬ 
ian  ;  the  centuries,  years,  and  days  to  the  ordinary  meridians. 
The  value  of  the  chart  and  of  the  map  alike  depends  less 
upon  the  choice  of  an  era  or  prime  meridian  and  the  length 
of  the  measures  employed  than  upon  the  carefulness  and 
accuracy  with  which  the  details  are  worked  out.  If  a  date 
is  lost,  then  the  event  for  which  it  stands  can  no  more  be 
definitely  fixed  with  reference  to  other  events  than  we  can 


TUE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY:  CHRONOLOGY.  79 


locate  the  fabled  islands  of  the  Atlantic  with  reference  to 
Europe  and  America. 

It  thus  becomes  quite  clear  that  a  chronological  scheme 
is  essential  to  accurate  history.  Thus,  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase,  “  chronology  is  one  of  the  two  eyes  of  history,”  be¬ 
comes  manifest.  Such  a  scheme  is  one  of  the  three  machines, 
so  to  speak,  that  the  student  uses  to  assort  and  place  his  facts. 
Entering  a  mail  car  attached  to  a  Michigan  Central  train 
bound  westward  from  Detroit,  you  see  a  clerk  standing  be¬ 
fore  a  group  of  boxes,  each  one  appropriately  marked  and 
the  whole  looking  much  like  a  cabinet  of  open  drawers,  en¬ 
gaged  in  “  throwing  ”  mail.  With  astonishing  dexterity  he 
throws  the  proper  pieces  to  the  boxes  marked  Ypsilanti,  Ann 
Arbor,  Jackson,  etc.  Similarly  a  chronologist  tosses  into 
the  boxes  of  his  chronological  scheme  the  events,  men,  ideas, 
institutions,  and  doctrines  that  he  comes  upon  in  the  course 
of  his  studies.  The  veteran  student  has  his  scheme  ready 
made  ;  the  neophyte  makes  his  scheme  as  he  accumulates  his 
facts.  Perhaps  it  is  needless  to  say  that  much  time  and  care 
are  consumed  in  its  fabrication,  and  that  the  teacher  should 
lend  the  pupil  intelligent  co-operation.  Such  is  a  system 
of  scientific  chronology.  Such  a  system,  more  or  less  defi¬ 
nitely  worked  out,  every  historical  student  must  have,  but 
it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  such  a  system 
rigidly  adhered  to  or  followed  is  either  a  necessary  or  a  wise 
expedient.  There  are  other  elements  to  be  considered  in  as¬ 
sorting  and  organizing  historical  facts. 

Chronology  proper  takes  notice  of  time  only  :  it  pays 
no  heed  to  either  place  or  cause  and  effect.  The  chronologist 
arranges  facts,  no  matter  where  they  may  come  from  or 
how  disconnected  they  may  be,  in  the  strict  order  of  succes¬ 
sion.  His  scheme  is  therefore  wholly  artificial,  wholly  ex¬ 
ternal  to  the  facts  themselves.  The  lines  that  he  draws 
across  his  chart  are  no  more  parts  of  history  than  the  merid¬ 
ians  and  parallels  drawn  upon  a  map  are  parts  of  the 
earth’s  surface.  There  are  such  things  as  geographical  and 
causal  relations,  such  things  as  the  unity  and  continuity 


80 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


of  history  determined  by  these  relations,  from  which  it 
follows  that,  if  the  method  of  the  chronologist  is  rigidly  ad¬ 
hered  to,  the  highest  form  of  history  possible  would  be  a 
chronicle. 

Here  we  come  to  the  important  question,  How  should  his¬ 
tory  be  written  and  studied  ?  Historians  have  followed 
three  methods — the  external,  the  internal,  and  a  combina¬ 
tion  of  these  two. 

The  mere  annalist  sets  events  down  by  years,  in  the  order 
of  their  occurrence.  Livy’s  History  of  Rome  some  editor 
arbitrarily  divided  into  decades,  or  groups  of  ten  books  each, 
for  the  sole  reason  that  the  first,  twenty-first,  and  thirty -first 
books  marked  the  beginnings  of  important  periods  and  are 
opened  by  short  introductions.  The  Magdeburg  Centurists 
and  their  imitators  divided  the  history  of  the  Church  into 
centuries.  Even  the  learned  Mosheim  followed  that  method 
in  his  Ecclesiastical  History.  The  century  method  is  more 
rational  than  the  decade  method  ;  still  it  often  compels  a 
total  disregard  of  internal  connections,  while  forcing  facts 
that  are  unrelated  into  a  mechanical  union.  Moreover, 
besides  doing  violence  to  subject-matter,  all  such  methods 
cramp  the  powers  of  the  writer  and  of  the  student.  They 
are  no  more  a  part  of  history  than  a  diver’s  armor  is  a  part 
of  the  diver. 

Other  writers  have  adopted  the  internal  method,  follow¬ 
ing  as  a  criterion  the  genetic  development  of  thought  and 
events.  These  writers  make  use  of  the  period,  the  age,  and 
the  epoch  in  assorting  and  arranging  their  facts.  The  rela¬ 
tions  of  these  divisions  of  time  are  not  definitely  determined. 
The  period  is  most  frequently  employed,  and  it  alone  need 
be  considered  in  this  discussion. 

The  great  advantage  of  the  period  is,  that  the  term  does 
not  connote  a  fixed  length  of  time,  like  year,  decade,  or 
century.  Some  periods  are  long,  some  short.  It  is  rarely 
possible  to  tell  in  years  how  long  a  period  is  ;  still  it  has  a 
beginning  and  an  end,  and  is  marked  by  certain  features 
giving  it  a  unity  that  makes  it  possible  for  the  mind  to  grasp 


THE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY:  CHRONOLOGY.  81 


it  as  a  whole.  These  features  may  be  religious,  political,  or 
military,  or  a  blending  of  various  elements.  The  Protestant 
Reformation  was  a  political,  a  national,  an  intellectual,  and 
an  economical  movement  as  well  as  a  religious  one.  Ob¬ 
viously,  therefore,  the  conception  of  the  period  is  essential 
to  the  right  interpretation  of  history. 

The  disadvantages  of  the  strict  internal  method  are  no 
less  obvious  than  its  advantages.  It  is  too  subjective,  setting 
at  naught  all  relations  but  those  of  internal  connection.  It 
fails  to  bring  facts  into  relation  that  lie  outside  of  the  chain 
of  cause  and  effect.  It  runs  in  special  channels,  leaving  out 
of  account  parallel  but  unrelated  series  of  facts.  It  gives 
us  a  searching  inward  look  but  is  deficient  in  breadth  of 
view.  What  is  more,  it  has  no  definite  means  of  marking 
time  or  of  measuring  historic  intervals.  In  fact,  left  to  it¬ 
self  the  internal  method  is  helpless  to  keep  track  of  its  own 
results  or  to  preserve  them  in  any  definite  form.  More  than 
this,  it  is  even  limited  in  its  account  of  development.  Time 
is  of  the  essence  of  history  ;  and  there  is  no  escaping  the 
questions,  “  When  ?  ”  and  “  How  long  ?  ” 

Happily  the  two  methods  do  not  absolutely  exclude  each 
other ;  each  completes  the  other,  and  the  student  must  there¬ 
fore  secure  the  advantages  both  of  the  external  and  the  in¬ 
ternal  method.  The  student  of  history,  in  contradistinction 
to  the  chronologist,  does  not  stand  in  front  of  a  cabinet  of 
boxes  each  of  the  same  capacity,  marked  “  first,”  “  second,” 
and  “  third  ”  ;  he  stands  rather  before  a  series  of  posts 
marked  1096,  1453,  1492,  1517,  1607, 1688,  1776,  1861,  etc.,  and 
throws  his  facts  to  them.  These  dates  mean  the  first  Cru¬ 
sade,  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  the  discovery  of  America, 
the  Reformation,  Jamestown,  the  English  Revolution,  the 
American  Revolution,  and  our  Civil  War.  They  stand 
prominent  in  the  periods  into  which  the  student  has  found  it 
convenient  to  divide  history.  In  other  words,  he  associates 
a  multitude  of  facts  with  leading  dates  like  those  that  have 
been  mentioned.  The  events  so  associated  are  of  course 
those  that  do  not  require,  for  common  purposes,  a  closer 


82 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


identification.  The  historian  will  indeed  mark  as  clearly  as 
possible  the  time  when  Columbus  went  to  Lisbon,  to  the 
Gold  Coast,  and  to  Spain,  and  the  dates  of  his  second,  third 
and  fourth  voyages,  as  well  as  of  many  other  voyages  ;  but 
the  general  student,  or  reader  at  least,  will  find  it  sufficient 
to  set  up  the  year  1492,  and  to  group  many  minor  facts 
around  it.  In  this  way  the  great  dates  of  history,  and  not  a 
mere  scheme  of  artificial  compartments,  control  the  group¬ 
ing  of  events.  In  this  way  dates  mark  periods.  In  this  way 
we  satisfy  many  of  the  demands  of  both  chronological  ex¬ 
actness  and  of  internal  connection. 

To  a  considerable  extent  the  historical  period  meets  the 
demand  of  history.  Even  well-educated  men  are  often  un¬ 
able  to  do  more  than  to  place  facts  in  their  proper  period,  or 
to  throw  them  into  their  own  group  ;  history  could  be 
written  without  a  more  definite  chronology  than  this,  but  it 
would  be  defective.  Hence  it  becomes  necessary  to  mark  as 
closely  as  we  can  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  periods. 
Still,  we  must  remember  that  the  dates  fixed  upon  for  this 
purpose  are  after  all  partly  arbitrary  and  artificial.  His¬ 
tory  is  an  evolution  ;  it  is  marked  by  unity  and  continuity, 
and  we  can  not  divide  it  into  periods  in  the  exact  manner  of 
a  surveyor  cutting  up  a  field  into  village  lots.  We  call  1517 
the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  for  example,  but  we  are 
not  unaware  that  this  is  giving  that  year  a  certain  factitious 
importance. 

The  observation  last  made  leads  to  the  broader  one,  that 
it  has  been  a  common  fault  of  historians  to  draw  their  lines 
of  demarcation  both  too  straight  and  too  heavy.  Human 
progress  is  not  made  by  leaps  and  bounds,  but  by  slow  and 
sometimes  imperceptible  stages  ;  and  the  great  periods  of 
history  are  separated  from  one  another  by  lines  sometimes 
almost  imperceptible,  and  always  wavy  and  shaded.  Rome 
did  not  fall  in  a  day  any  more  than  it  was  built  in  a  day. 
Accordingly,  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  firmest  lines  that  we 
are  able  to  draw  are  often  largely  a  matter  of  mental  con¬ 
venience.  What  M.  Compayre  says  of  one  class  of  institu- 


THE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY:  CHRONOLOGY.  83 


tions  is  true  of  a  vast  number  of  others  :  “  It  is  necessary,  in 
the  first  place,  to  discard  the  prejudice  that  the  first  univer¬ 
sities  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  born  suddenly,  in  a  day,  at 
a  precise  moment,  whose  date  it  would  be  possible  to  fix 
exactly.”  This  truth  the  evolutionists  have  taught  us  so 
thoroughly  that  some  historical  writers  now  seem  disposed 
to  go  too  far  in  disregarding  historical  periods. 

We  Americans  sometimes  divide  our  own  history  into 
three  grand  divisions,  viz. : 

The  Colonial  Period,  1607-1775,  marked  by  our  depend¬ 
ence  upon  England. 

The  Revolutionary  Period,  1775-1789,  marked  by  the 
struggle  for  independence  and  the  various  attempts  to  or¬ 
ganize  our  political  system. 

The  Constitutional  Period,  extending  from  1789  to  the 
present  day. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  such  divisions  as  these  are 
like  those  of  the  mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms. 
A  given  historic  field  may  be  divided,  and  be  well  divided, 
in  quite  different  ways.  Much  depends  upon  the  judgment 
of  the  author  or  teacher,  and  upon  his  immediate  purpose. 
Every  one  of  the  periods  just  given  may,  for  certain  pur¬ 
poses,  be  broken  up  with  advantage.  The  first  one  may  be 
divided  into  the  period  of  discovery,  the  period  of  coloniza¬ 
tion,  and  the  period  of  colonial  life.  The  second  one  may 
be  divided  into  the  continental  and  the  confederate  periods, 
March  1, 1781,  forming  the  point  of  division.  The  third  one 
may  be  divided  into  the  period  of  foreign  relations  extend¬ 
ing  to  1820,  the  period  of  economic  questions  to  1845,  and 
the  period  of  the  slavery  controversy  to  1869.  Or  the  pe¬ 
riods  may  be  divided  with  reference  to  particular  facts  or 
questions,  as  the  third  one  with  reference  to  the  ascendency 
of  political  parties. 

To  recognize  the  features  that  characterize  the  different 
periods,  and  so  to  distinguish  them,  calls  for  much  knowl¬ 
edge  and  judgment. 

Sometimes  the  century  and  period  have  a  general  corre- 


84 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


spondence.  The  French  Revolution  is  said,  in  a  general  way, 
to  mark  the  close  of  the  last  century.  Again,  a  man  is  de¬ 
scribed  as  belonging,  by  his  mental  character,  to  the  six¬ 
teenth  century  or  to  the  eighteenth.  But,  apart  from  such 
correspondences,  the  century  is  an  exceedingly  useful  scale 
for  the  arrangement  and  retention  of  historical  facts.  It  is 
often  sufficient  for  practical  purposes  to  refer  an  event  to  its 
century  :  as  the  first  Crusade  to  the  close  of  the  eleventh, 
the  discovery  of  America  to  the  close  of  the  fifteenth,  the 
planting  of  the  first  English  colonies  in  America  to  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  seventeenth.  Besides,  some  facts,  as  a  war  or 
revolution  occupying  considerable  time,  can  not  be  referred 
to  a  particular  year. 

We  also  classify  historical  matter  with  reference  to  dy¬ 
nasties,  reigns,  and  administrations.  The  divisions  of  time 
that  are  thus  named  are  sometimes  natural  and  sometimes 
artificial  divisions  of  history.  Some  of  them  are  the  mere 
incidents  of  succession,  but  others  stand  for  ideas,  policies, 
and  great  accomplished  facts.  The  Norman  dynasty  marks 
the  last  subjugation  of  England.  We  speak  of  the  Eliza¬ 
bethan  and  the  Victorian  Ages  of  English  literature.  The 
accession  of  William  III  to  the  throne  of  England  had 
much  significance.  In  the  United  States  the  inaugura¬ 
tion  of  Presidents  has  sometimes  marked  new  measures, 
as  those  of  Jeflterson,  1801 ;  Jackson,  1829  ;  and  Lincoln, 
1861. 

But  even  when  it  is  not  thus  marked  off,  as  commonly  it 
is  not,  the  administration  serves  a  useful  purpose.  The 
leading  facts  occurring  in  it  can  be  associated  with  the  Presi¬ 
dent,  he  with  them.  The  twenty  administrations,  count¬ 
ing  the  double  administrations  as  units,  may  be  likened  to  a 
cabinet  of  twenty  boxes,  or  to  a  bookcase  containing  an 
equal  number  of  shelves  on  which  books  may  be  so  placed 
that  they  can  be  readily  found  when  wanted.  For  many  of 
the  facts  that  he  requires,  the  administration  is  as  small  a 
division  of  time  as  one  needs.  The  common  man  is  content 
to  know  that  President  Jackson  vetoed  the  Bank  Bill,  that 


THE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY;  CHRONOLOGY.  85 


President  Jefferson  was  the  father  of  the  embargo,  that  the 
Oregon  question  was  settled  in  the  time  of  Polk,  and  the 
Northeastern  boundary  in  that  of  Tyler.  Hence,  it  is  one 
of  the  duties  of  the  teacher  of  the  elementary  history  of  the 
United  States  to  teach  the  pupil  his  ‘‘  administrations  ”  thor¬ 
oughly. 

The  methods  already  described  will  not  answer  the  defi¬ 
nite  purposes  of  instruction  in  history.  The  teacher  must 
face  the  questions  :  How  many,  and  what  dates  ?  and.  How 
to  teach  them  ? 

The  year  will  commonly  suffice,  but  not  always  :  1492  is 
hardly  definite  enough  for  the  discovery  of  America,  or  1776 
for  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  date  of  John 
Cabot’s  landfall,  June  24,  1497,  is  important  by  reason  of 
its  relations  to  the  pretended  landfall  of  Vespucius,  June  6, 
1497,  and  the  genuine  one  of  Columbus,  October  4,  1498. 
For  the  rest,  years  alone  will  answer  for  all  the  voyages  of 
American  discovery  that  need  be  taught :  Ponce  de  Leon’s 
discovery  of  Florida,  1513  ;  De  Soto’s  expedition,  1539  ;  Ver- 
razzano’s  exploration  of  the  coast,  1524  ;  Cartier’s  voyages  to 
the  St.  Lawrence  region,  1534,  1535,  1540  ;  Hudson’s  visit  to 
the  Hudson  and  the  Delaware,  1609,  etc. 

Since  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on  Plymouth  Rock 
fixes  Forefathers’  Day,  the  date  should  be  exactly  given,  De¬ 
cember  22, 1620.  But  years  will  do  for  all  the  other  first 
settlements.  Indeed,  the  pupil  may  well  congratulate  him¬ 
self  if,  later  in  life,  he  can  recall  the  years  of  a  few  of  the 
more  prominent  ones  :  Jamestown,  1607  ;  New  York,  1613  ; 
Boston,  1630  ;  Hartford,  1634  ;  Providence,  1635  ;  Philadel¬ 
phia,  1682. 

The  periods  of  confiict  between  the  English  and  the 
French  in  North  America  should  be  carefully  marked  off, 
as  follows  : 

Charles  First’s  War,  1627-1630,  in  which  the  English 
seized  Port  Royal  and  Quebec,  but  only  to  yield  them  up 
again  on  the  conclusion  of  peace. 

King  William’s  War,  1689-1697,  marked  by  several  Im 


86  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

_  ) 

dian  forays  against  the  English  settlements,  and  by  two  un¬ 
successful  attempts  to  reduce  Canada. 

Queen  Anne’s  War,  1702-1713,  in  which  the  English  again 
captured  Port  Royal  (and  retained  it  thenceforth),  and  in 
which  they  again  put  forth  fruitless  efforts  to  reduce  Canada. 

King  George’s  War,  1744-1748,  famous  for  the  capture  of 
Louishurg  and  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  which,  however, 
were  given  up  to  France  at  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

The  French  and  Indian  War,  1754-1763,  at  the  close  of 
which  France  transferred  to  England  her  possessions  on  the 
continent  north  of  the  English  colonies  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  except  the  small  portion  of  Louisiana  east  of  the 
river  that  went  to  Spain. 

In  dealing  with  the  military  operations  and  political 
events  falling  within  these  limits,  it  would  be  commonly 
quite  sufficient  to  assign  them  to  their  respective  periods. 
A  few,  however,  should  be  definitely  taught :  as  the  seizure 
of  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio  by  the  French,  1754  ;  the  fall  of 
Quebec,  1759  ;  and  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  1763. 

In  dealing  with  the  War  of  Independence,  the  teacher 
will  be  somewhat  more  definite.  But  even  here  months 
and  days  will,  as  a  rule,  either  uselessly  encumber  the  mem¬ 
ory  or  be  speedily  forgotten.  April  19,  1775,  marking  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  and  October  10,  1781,  marking  the 
surrender  of  Yorktown,  are  the  most  important. 

In  dealing  with  military  operations  that  are  parts  of  cam¬ 
paigns,  and  particularly  when  the  stage  is  crowded,  it  is  gen¬ 
erally  best  to  refer  them  to  these  larger  movements.  With 
our  Civil  War,  for  example,  the  teacher  should  make  out 
for  his  own  guidance,  or  adopt,  a  scheme  of  all  such  opera¬ 
tions  as  may  properly  be  called  campaigns,  not  omitting  their 
time  limits  and  interior  relations.  It  will  suffice  here  to 
remark,  in  addition,  that  a  few  definite  dates  must  content 
the  pupil  and  the  teacher  alike. 

Carlyle  remarks  upon  the  discrepancy  existing  between 
our  manner  of  observing  things  and  their  manner  of  oc¬ 
curring  : 


THE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY:  CHRONOLOGY.  87 


The  most  gifted  man  can  observe,  still  more  record,  only  the 
series  of  his  own  impressions ;  his  observation,  therefore,  to  say  noth¬ 
ing  of  its  other  imperfections,  must  be  successive^  while  the  things 
done  were  often  simultaneous ;  the  things  done  were  not  a  series, 
but  a  group.  It  is  not  in  acted  as  it  is  in  written  history :  actual 
events  are  no  wuse  so  simply  related  to  each  other  as  parent  and  off¬ 
spring  are ;  every  single  event  is  the  offspring  not  of  one  but  of  all 
other  events  prior  or  contemporaneous,  and  will  in  its  turn  combine 
with  all  others  to  give  birth  to  new ;  it  is  an  ever-living,  ever-work¬ 
ing  chaos  of  being,  wherein  shape  after  shape  bodies  itself  forth 
from  innumerable  events.  .  .  .  All  narrative  is,  by  its  nature,  of 
only  one  dimension;  only  travels  forward  toward  one  or  toward 
successive  points ;  narrative  is  linear^  action  is  solid. 

The  difficulty  is  a  real  one  ;  it  can  be  overcome  but  par¬ 
tially,  and  that  only  as  the  result  of  discipline.  Even  if  he 
occupies  the  most  eligible  place  on  the  whole  field,  a  com¬ 
manding  general  can  not  see  all  the  turns  and  stages  of  a 
battle,  although  they  may  lie  within  the  scope  of  his  eye¬ 
sight  ;  he  ranges  back  and  forth,  looks  first  to  one  part  of  the 
field  and  then  to  another,  sees  some  things  done  and  some 
that  have  been  done,  uses  his  ears  as  well  as  his  eyes,  and  by 
the  employment  of  all  his  faculties — observation,  inference, 
memory,  and  imagination — constructs  a  measurably  com¬ 
plete  view  of  the  battle  as  a  whole.  Not  unlike  this  is  the 
position  of  a  student  of  history  who  seeks  to  comprehend  the 
whole  action  that  is  taking  place  on  any  large  historic  field. 
He  can  see  but  one  thing  at  a  time ;  his  mind  moves  in  column 
and  not  in  line,  and  it  is  only  by  following  a  given  series 
a  certain  distance,  and  by  frequently  going  back  to  bring  up 
the  parallel  series,  and  by  much  exercise  of  his  co-ordinating 
faculties,  that  he  finally  comes  to  see  the  action,  as  it  were,  in 
group.  A  master  of  historical  composition  even  can  not 
drive  two,  and  much  less  three  or  four,  series  of  events 
abreast ;  and  in  nothing  does  he  use  his  skill  to  better  pur¬ 
pose  than  in  choosing  halting  places  for  the  column  that  he 
had  pushed  on  in  the  van,  while  he  brings  up  the  columns 
that  have  fallen  into  the  rear.  Thus  again  we  reach  a  reason 


38  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

why  the  child’s  first  lessons  in  history  must  be  stories  chosen 
with  large  reference  to  simplicity  of  action. 

The  questions,  How  many  and  what  dates  shall  I  teach  ? 
have  continually  receded  before  us.  The  fact  is,  no  person 
can  definitely  answer  this  question  for  another,  or  even  for 
himself,  until  he  is  in  the  presence  of  his  class.  The  teacher 
-who  demands  definite  answers,  or  feels  the  need  of  them, 
thereby  confesses  his  unfitness  to  teach  the  subject.  All 
that  I  can  say,  in  addition  to  what  I  have  said,  is  to  offer 
a  few  practical  remarks. 

1.  Too  many  dates  are  sometimes  taught,  and  bad  judg¬ 
ment  is  often  shown  in  their  selection.  Some  teachers  seem 
to  think  that  pounding  dates  into  a  child’s  mind  is  the  main 
thing  to  be  done.  In  fact,  the  over-emphasizing  of  chronol¬ 
ogy  has  hitherto  been  one  of  the  serious  defects  of  history 
teaching.  Accordingly,  it  can  not  be  too  plainly  stated  that 
a  dictionary  of  dates  is  not  a  history.  If  the  chronologist 
were  a  historian,  no  form  of  literary  composition  would  be 
easier,  whereas  it  is  a  high  literary  art.  Clio  sits  by  right 
in  the  circle  of  the  Muses.  “  To  be  a  really  great  historian,’' 
Lord  Macaulay  remarks,  “  is  perhaps  the  rarest  of  intellect¬ 
ual  distinctions.” 

Dates  are  not  the  skeleton  of  history,  as  is  sometimes 
said  ;  they  are  not  even  its  articulations.  The  American 
Revolution  turns  on  the  battle  of  Lexington,  somewhat  as 
the  human  arm  “  turns  ”  on  the  ball-and-socket  joint  of  the 
shoulder  ;  the  date,  April  19,  1775,  merely  marks  the  time  of 
the  transaction,  unless,  indeed,  it  is  conceived  of  as  the  trans¬ 
action  itself. 

2.  The  opposite  mistake  is  sometimes  made.  The  time 
wdien  an  event  occurs  is  dismissed  with  the  contemptuous 
remark,  “  A  mere  date.”  Now,  while  facts  are  the  staple  of 
history,  they  do  not  become  history  until  they  are  properly 
worked  up  or  organized.  It  has  already  been  insisted  that 
the  teacher  must  constantly  regard  those  relations  that  con¬ 
trol  such  organization — time,  place,  and  causation.  Fur¬ 
thermore,  in  the  early  stage  of  instruction  time  should  be 


THE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY:  CHRONOLOGY.  89 


more  emphasized  than  the  other  two  principles,  or,  at  all 
events,  than  the  third  one.  It  is  true  that  time  relations,  as 
antecedent  and  consequent,  may  be  taught  irrespective  of 
dates  ;  still,  it  will  be  found  that,  unless  a  sufficient  number 
of  dates  are  fixed  in  the  mind  to  keep  facts  in  their  places, 
they  will  straggle  about  in  the  most  vagrant  fashion.  It  is 
more  important  to  remember  this  fact,  because  the  doctrine 
of  evolution,  which  has  so  much  modified  methods  of  study¬ 
ing  history,  tends  to  fix  attention  on  the  development  as  a 
whole,  or  on  the  stages  into  which  it  is  divisible.  To  a  de¬ 
gree  this  method  meets  the  ends  of  history,  but  by  no  means 
wholly  so.  The  time  when  an  event  occurs  is  sometimes  as 
important  as  the  event  itself  ;  and  in  general  there  can  be 
no  useful  comparison  of  historical  facts  without  reference  to 
dates  or  measurably  definite  periods  of  time.  It  is  a  fault 
for  a  writer  to  sprinkle  his  pages  too  thickly  with  B.  c.’s 
and  A.  D.  ’s  ;  but  to  leave  the  reader  in  doubt  as  to  the  time 
relations  of  facts,  or  to  compel  him  to  infer  them  from  the 
drift  of  the  narrative  because  the  dates  are  too  sparse,  is  quite 
as  serious  a  mistake. 

It  does  not  follow  that  a  pupil  should  not  learn  a  date 
because  he  does  not  comprehend  its  full  historical  signifi¬ 
cance  or  have  definite  ideas  of  the  distance  of  the  event  from 
the  base  line  or  from  some  other  event.  Such  ability  as  this 
is  acquired  but  slowly.  The  prodigious  significance  of  the 
great  dates  of  history  continually  grows  upon  the  minds  of 
veteran  scholars. 

3.  Much  depends  upon  the  particular  subject  with  which 
the  teacher  is  dealing.  As  in  geography  we  are  content 
with  general  ideas  of  distant  countries,  and  especially  of 
large  countries,  while  we  require  much  more  definite  knowl¬ 
edge  in  dealing  with  the  near,  and  especially  our  own  coun¬ 
try  ;  so  in  history  we  do  not  expect,  save  in  special  work, 
the  detail  in  dealing  with  Grecian  or  Roman  history  that 
we  require  in  English  history,  and  much  less  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States.  The  purpose  of  the  writer  or  teacher 
also  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  question,  whether  he  is 
8 


90  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

dealing  with  the  subject  in  an  elementary  or  a  thorough 
manner. 

4.  The  important  dates  are  the  ones  to  teach— those  that 
stand  to  the  whole  historic  movement  in  a  relation  similar 
to  that  of  the  superior  articulations  to  the  human  body. 
These  important  dates  should  he  fixed  in  the  mind  exactly 
or  approximately  as  firmly  as  possible,  and  other  dates  he 
arranged  with  reference  to  them  as  antecedent  or  conse¬ 
quent.  It  is  not  so  important  to  know  the  day  on  which 
the  second  Continental  Congress  convened  or  adjourned  as 
it  is  to  know  the  day  that  it  assigned  to  the  United  States  a 
separate  position  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 

S.Ohe  age  of  pupils,  their  advancement  in  study  and 
particularly  in  history,  and  the  time  that  is  to  be  given  to 
the  subject,  are  all  to  be  considered.  Here,  however,  the  cri¬ 
teria  already  laid  down  for  the  selection  of  historical  facts 
in  general  apply  in  full  force. 

Nothing  but  a  knowledge  of  the  subject  taught,  and  of 
the  conditions  attending  the  pupils  or  the  class,  and  good 
judgment,  will  enable  the  teacher  to  decide  how  many  and 
what  dates  to  teach.  The  attempt  has  been  made  to  present 
the  principal  considerations  that  hear  on  the  two  questions, 
and  to  illustrate  some  methods  of  procedure.  The  compe¬ 
tent  teacher  can  desire  nothing  more.  The  Germans,  or 
some  of  them,  do  indeed  go  further.  In  the  Berlin  course  of 
study  sixty-three  dates  are  required  to  he  taught  in  the  sec¬ 
ond  class  of  the  elementary  schools,  and  fifty-three  in  the 
first  class  ;  one  hundred  and  sixteen  in  all,  or  about  six  new 
dates  a  month. 

6.  Still  another  suggestion  may  prove  useful.  The  his¬ 
tory  of  one  country  may  serve  as  a  general  chronological 
guide  for  the  history  of  others.  Thus,  after  she  assumed  a 
leading  position  in  the  Mediterranean,  Borne  should  be  made 
the  point  of  observation  from  which  to  survey  the  history 
of  that  whole  basin.  “What  was  going  on  in  Carthage  at 
the  time  when  Pyrrhus  invaded  Italy  ? ”  “in  Greece  in  the 
days  of  the  Second  Punic  War  ?  ”  “  in  the  East  in  the  days 


THE  TIME  RELATION  IN  HISTORY:  CHRONOLOGY.  91 


of  Pompey  or  Julius  Caesar  ?”  For  the  general  American 
student,  England  should  be  the  standard  for  Europe,  at  least 
after  the  Norman  Conquest.  “  Who  ruled  in  France  in  the 
time  of  Eichard  the  Lion-hearted  ?”  “What  was  the  state 
of  Prussia  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  George  III  ?  ” 
The  connections  of  English  history  and  American  his¬ 
tory  are  of  the  first  importance.  At  particular  times  the 
same  may  be  said  of  French  history  and  American  history. 
What  went  on  here  often  finds  its  explanation  in  what  went 
on  there.  The  great  outburst  of  interest  in  American  plant¬ 
ing  that  occurred  toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
best  represented  by  Ealeigh,  had  for  one  object  the  curbing 
of  the  power  of  Spain.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  more 
successful  efforts  made  at  the  opening  of  the  ensuing  cen¬ 
tury.  James  I,  Charles  I,  and  Charles  II  were  the  authors 
of  the  most  celebrated  colonial  charters.  Cromwell,  James 
II,  and  William  III  each  has  a  status  in  American  history. 
The  general  policy  pursued  by  George  III,  that  brought  on 
the  Eevolution  and  led  to  the  division  of  the  British  Empire, 
had  its  English  side.  Then  the  foreign  policy  established 
by  Washington,  the  embargo,  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana, 
the  War  of  1812,  in  their  causes,  all  run  deeply  into  Eu¬ 
ropean  affairs.  Hence  the  parallelism  of  American  dates 
and  European  dates  must  be  observed.  No  other  great 
power  now  existing  has  developed  with  such  little  disturb¬ 
ance  from  the  outside  as  the  United  States,  owing  to  the 
remoteness  of  the  American  Continent  from  the  Old  World; 
but  their  history,  and  especially  down  to  1815,  is  constantly 
conditioned  by  European  history. 


L 


CHAPTER  Vm. 

THE  PLACE  RELATION  :  GEOGRAPHY. 

References. — See  Chapter  X. 

Since  history  is  action  or  movement,  it  involves  the  idea 
of  place  as  well  as  of  time.  An  action  or  event,  as  the  very 
phrase  suggests,  must  take  place  somewhere  as  well  as  some¬ 
time.  In  purely  subjective  history  neither  element  is  prom¬ 
inent,  and  both  may  be  practically  left  out  of  the  accoimt. 
Dealing  with  a  man’s  thought  or  feeling  merely,  we  do  not 
pay  much  attention  to  the  time  when  or  to  the  place  where 
he  carried  it  on.  But  when  thought  becomes  will  and  will 
expresses  itself  in  action — that  is,  the  very  moment  that  his¬ 
tory  becomes  objective — the  two  elements  distinctly  appear. 
Hence  geography  is  the  second  of  the  two  eyes  of  history. 

The  historical  hearings  or  relations  of  geography  may  be 
considered  under  two  aspects,  the  static  and  the  dynamic. 
First,  geography  furnishes  history  its  sphere  or  theater  of 
action.  This  is  a  purely  spatial  relation.  Thus  considered, 
it  has  nothing  to  do  with  producing  or  modifying  the  ac¬ 
tion  ;  it  merely  provides  the  ground  where  historic  forces 
act  and  bring  about  their  results.  But,  secondly,  geography 
LS  a  historical  cause  of  great  potency  and  value.  Tempera¬ 
ture,  humidity,  and  food  directly  affect  a  man’s  physical  and 
mental  character,  and  so  his  life.  Heat  and  cold,  wet  and 
dry,  a  diet  of  rice  and  a  diet  of  train  oil,  are  immediate  his¬ 
torical  factors.  Still  further,  these  agents  also  affect  him 
through  his  occupations,  his  pastimes,  his  activities,  and  his 
wants  still  more  powerfully,  and  so  are  mediate  historical 
factors  of  great  value.  The  historian  must  take  account  of 


THE  PLACE  RELATION:  GEOGRAPHY. 


9^ 


food  supply,  the  occupations  of  men,  industries,  and  com¬ 
merce,  all  closely  related  to  natural  conditions.  He  must 
account  for  the  location,  the  growth,  and  the  character  of 
cities,  and  the  construction  of  lines  of  transportation  and 
travel.  What  powerful  factors  in  American  history  are  In¬ 
dian  com,  the  cotton  belt,  the  fisheries,  the  forests  and  coal 
fields,  the  oil  regions,  and  the  gold  and  silver  mines  !  Mili¬ 
tary  operations,  it  is  almost  imnecessary  to  remark,  are  large¬ 
ly  governed  by  physical  conditions.  Gettysburg  gave  the 
National  and  Confederate  armies  a  field  of  battle  ;  by  its  re¬ 
lations  and  peculiar  conformation  this  field  exerted  a  great 
infiuence  upon  the  battle  itself.  The  shores  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  gave  the  Puritans  an  opportunity  to  do  something  ; 
they  also  determined  to  a  degree  what  they  did  and  what 
they  could  do.  These  two  aspects  of  geography  are  never 
practically  separated  ;  neither  one  is  ever  wanting  in  real 
history  ;  but  the  causal  element,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  is 
a  variable  quantity. 

Since  the  two  aspects  are  always  practically  united,  some 
might  think  it  better  to  consider  them  together  in  such  a 
discussion  as  the  present  one.  However,  there  are  certain 
advantages  that  attend  handling  them  separately.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  I  shall  treat  the  purely  place  relation  in  the  present 
chapter,  leaving  physical  environment  to  be  considered 
more  fully  hereafter. 

Life  gives  to  matter  its  highest  value,  and  wherever  uni¬ 
versal  death  prevails  the  interest  of  the  mind  can  not  be  per¬ 
manently  maintained.  If  the  moon  he  what  we  are  assured 
it  is,  even  an  astronomer,  could  he  visit  it,  would  wander 
over  its  surface  much  as  we  walk  over  a  bed  of  cinders  or  a 
field  of  lava.  The  earth  is  most  interesting  when  consid¬ 
ered  in  relation  to  its  human  uses.  Geography  provides 
man  his  sphere  of  life,  and  then  finds  its  highest  interest, 
not  in  its  deserts  or  crags,  its  glaciers  or  canons,  but  in  its 
human  elements.  Political  geography  is  nothing  but  a 
form  of  applied  history.  Then  the  two  elements  together 
make  up  the  interest  of  travel.  To  assign  to  the  physical 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


94 

elements  and  historical  elements  of  a  country  or  locality 
their  relative  degrees  of  value  would  be  impossible,  espe¬ 
cially  as  the  ratio  would  not  be  the  same  with  all  persons  ; 
similarly  we  can  not  nicely  separate  between  current  and 
historical  life  ;  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  majority  of 
men  attribute  more  or  less  interest  to  Nature  that  properly 
belongs  to  humanity,  and  also  some  interest  to  contempo¬ 
rary  life  that  belongs  to  past  time.  Men  toil  and  suffer  to 
visit  countries  and  places  having  little  living  interest.  The 
Holy  Places  attract  pilgrims  because  they  have  been  made 
holy  by  devoted  and  self-denying  lives.  Moses  is  greater 
than  Mount  Sinai,  Abraham  than  Palestine,  Jesus  than  the 
Lake  of  Galilee.  It  is  very  true  that  back  of  the  event  lie 
causes,  thoughts,  feelings,  and  activities  ;  but  there  is  a  cer¬ 
tain  tendency  to  look  for  them,  and  also  the  event  itself,  in 
the  locality. 

There  are  still  other  reasons  for  emphasizing  geography 
in  connection  with  history.  Historical  events  that  are  not 
located  by  the  pupil  are  neither  understood  nor  remem¬ 
bered.  History  that  is  read  without  due  attention  to  its 
theater  is  too  much  like  an  imaginary  account  of  similar 
transactions  in  the  moon.  Hence,  the  teacher  must  bring 
the  pupil’s  history  down  out  of  the  clouds  and  rest  it  on  the 
ground  and  in  the  water.  Thomas  Carlyle  once  wrote  to 
one  of  his  nephews  : 

As  to  subjects  for  reading,  I  recommend  in  general  all  kinds 
of  books  that  will  give  you  real  information  about  men,  their  works 
and  ways,  past  and  present.  History  is  evidently  the  grand  sub¬ 
ject  a  student  will  take  to.  Never  read  any  such  book  without  a 
map  beside  you;  endeavor  to  seek  out  every  place  the  author 
names,  and  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  ground  you  are  on ;  without  this 
vou  can  never  understand  him,  much  less  remember  him.  Mark 
the  dates  of  the  chief  events  and  epochs ;  write  them ;  get  them 
fixed  into  your  memory — chronology  and  geography  are  the  two 
lamps  of  history. 

Careful  study  of  a  good  map  is  the  next  best  thing  to 
visiting  a  historical  locality  in  person.  To  a  certain  ex- 


THE  PLACE  RELATION;  GEOGRAPHY. 


95 


tent  geography  and  history  are  hut  one  study  ;  and  the 
effort  now  made  in  schools  to  study  them  in  close  connec¬ 
tion  is  worthy  of  all  praise.  Thus  the  memory  is  wholly 
dependent  upon  the  associating  activities  of  the  mind. 
Without  them  nothing  could  be  retained  and  nothing  could 
be  learned.  Besides,  contiguity  of  space  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  of  these  activities.  In  view  of  these  facts  we 
need  not  enlarge  upon  the  importance  of  the  place  element 
in  history. 

The  student  of  history  might  adopt  a  method  similar  to 
that  of  the  chronologist :  he  might  use  the  geographical 
divisions  of  a  country  or  state  as  a  cabinet  of  boxes  for 
the  distribution  of  his  facts.  If  the  theater  under  considera¬ 
tion  is  small,  something  quite  like  this  must  be  done  ;  but 
generally  a  less  artificial  method  is  to  be  preferred. 

When  an  important  fact  belongs  to  a  notable  place,  the 
association  is  effected  without  difficulty.  The  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  the  Federal  Convention  of  1787  easily 
attach  themselves  to  Philadelphia.  If  the  event  is  less  im¬ 
portant  or  the  place  is  less  notable,  the  association  is  not 
so  easy.  In  fact,  properly  to  connect  events  and  places  is 
by  no  means  the  least  part  of  the  student’s  task.  However, 
to  associate  each  fact  that  should  be  remembered  with  its 
own  definite  locality  is  much  like  associating  it  with  its  own 
definite  year,  the  folly  of  which  was  commented  upon  in 
the  last  chapter.  We  may  borrow  a  useful  hint  from  that 
discussion  :  we  may  throw  our  facts  to  districts  of  country, 
to  cities  or  towns,  or  to  marked  natural  features,  much  as 
we  before  threw  them  to  periods  of  time. 

For  example,  the  subject  of  study  is  the  Mexican  War. 
Before  taking  this  up  as  a  series  of  military  operations,  it 
should  be  viewed  in  its  causes  and  general  conditions.  The 
following  factors  should  be  mentioned  :  the  geographical 
relations  of  Mexico  and  the  United  States  previous  to  the 
war — their  long  and  irregular  boundary,  extending  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  the  disputed  strip  of 
territory  lying  between  the  river  Nueces  and  the  Kio  Grande, 


96  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

] 

a  dispute  that  grew  out  of  the  Texas  annexation  ;  the  pos¬ 
session  hy  Mexico  of  the  vast  region  now  comprising  Cali¬ 
fornia,  Nevada,  Arizona,  Utah,  and  New  Mexico,  and  parts 
of  Colorado  and  Wyoming,  none  of  it  thickly  populated 
and  most  of  it  waste  and  uncultivated,  none  of  it  known  to 
contain  metals,  hut  much  of  it  fertile  and  productive ;  the 
California  coast  and  San  Francisco  Bay — the  eagerness  of  the 
American  statesmen  who  were  then  in  the  ascendant,  and  of 
a  large  share  of  the  people,  particularly  at  the  South,  to  gain 
a  Southwestern  accession  of  territory  and  to  widen  the  front 
of  the  republic  opening  upon  the  western  ocean,  as  well  as 
their  determination  to  maintain  the  national  claim  to  the 
left  hank  of  the  Rio  Grande.  All  these  factors  should  be 
duly  emphasized,  and  particularly  the  enlarging  and  aggress¬ 
ive  habit  of  the  American  people.  “  Indemnity  for  the  past 
and  security  for  the  future  ”  was  a  favorite  battle-cry  from 
the  beginning  of  the  struggle.  These  factors  being  duly 
recognized,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  military  events 
fall  into  four  main  series : 

I.  The  Rio  Grande  Frontier. — In  the  spring  of  1846  Gen¬ 
eral  Taylor  fought  and  won  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and 
Resaca  de  la  Palma,  and  drove  the  Mexicans  from  the  east 
side  of  the  river.  Later  he  invaded  Mexico,  winning  im¬ 
portant  victories  at  Monterey  and  Buena  Vista.  The  pupil 
should  locate  all  these  actions  and  mark  their  relations ;  but 
if  he  can  permanently  associate  them  with  the  Rio  Grande, 
placing  them  on  their  appropriate  sides  of  the  river,  nothing 
more  need  be  desired. 

II.  California. — At  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  was 
an  American  squadron  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  also  an 
armed  exploring  expedition.  In  the  course  of  the  summer 
of  1846  this  squadron,  successively  commanded  by  Commo¬ 
dores  Sloat  and  Stockton,  and  the  explorers  under  Colonel 
Fremont,  seized  the  principal  towns  of  Upper  California 
and  reduced  the  whole  province  under  American  control. 
In  general  it  will  be  sufficient  to  assign  the  several  small 
engagements  that  took  place  simply  to  California. 


THE  PLACE  RELATION;  GEOGRAPHY. 


97 


III.  New  Mexico. — The  same  summer  General  S.  W. 
Kearney  marched  from  the  Missouri  River  across  the  plains 
by  the  old  Santa  Fe  trail,  and  subjugated  all  New  Mexico 
without  fighting  a  battle.  Kearney  then  departed  for  Cali¬ 
fornia,  but  Colonel  Doniphan,  who  was  left  in  command, 
marched  south  into  Mexico,  capturing  the  city  of  Chihuahua 
and  the  country  adjacent.  He  did  not,  however,  accom¬ 
plish  his  purpose  of  effecting  a  junction  with  General  Tay¬ 
lor  at  Monterey. 

These  successes  placed  the  Americans  in  possession  of 
the  territory  that  they  coveted  and  that  they  were  deter¬ 
mined  to  hold.  From  this  time  on  the  war  was  waged  on 
their  part  to  compel  the  Mexicans  to  consent  to  peace  on 
that  condition.  In  fact,  the  victories  of  Monterey  and 
Buena  Vista  were  a  part  of  this  later  policy.  Our  Govern¬ 
ment  was  determined  that  the  left  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande 
and  San  Francisco  Bay  should  never  return  to  their  old 
owners. 

IV.  General  Scoffs  Campaign  against  the  City  of  Mex~ 
ico. — In  this  campaign  Vera  Cruz  was  the  first  objective 
point,  because  it  was  the  key  to  the  most  direct  road  lead¬ 
ing  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Mexican  capital.  This 
city,  together  with  the  fortress  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa,  fell 
before  a  combined  naval  and  military  attack  in  March,  1847. 
and  soon  after  the  advance  upon  the  capital  began.  Cerro 
Gordo  was  won  in  April,  and  the  campaign  culminated  in 
the  Valley  of  Mexico  in  August  and  September.  As  before, 
the  student  should  follow  the  army  map  in  hand  ;  but  it 
will  suffice  for  him  permanently  to  associate  Cerro  Gordo 
with  Vera  Cruz,  and  all  the  operations  in  the  Valley  with 
the  Capital  City. 

In  many  cases  all  practical  purposes  Tvill  be  answered  by 
associating  events  with  some  city  or  town,  or  feature  of 
country,  even  although  considerable  distance  intervene. 
Further  on  a  chapter  will  be  given  to  the  Revolutionary 
War;  but  here  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  all  the  important 
events  of  that  struggle  may  be  referred  to  a  few  centers,  to 


98  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

J 

be  grouped  and  associated.  These  centers,  or,  at  all  events, 
the  most  important  of  them,  are  Boston,  Long  Island  Sound, 
Lake  Champlain,  Montreal,  Quebec,  Saratoga,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Charleston,  Savannah,  and  the  waters  of  Vir¬ 
ginia.  Or  if  it  be  thought  that  this  is  giving  too  much  lati¬ 
tude,  then  New  Jersey  and  North  and  South  Carolina  may 
be  added.  West  of  the  mountains.  East  Tennessee  and  the 
Illinois  and  Wabash  country  should  not  be  overlooked. 
With  Boston  may  be  associated  Lexington  and  Concord, 
the  beleaguer  of  the  city.  Bunker  Hill,  the  assumption  of 
command  by  Washington,  the  fortification  of  Dorchester 
Heights,  and  the  evacuation  of  the  city.  With  Philadelphia 
may  be  associated  the  early  Congresses,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  Trenton,  Princeton,  Brandywine,  the  occu¬ 
pation  of  the  city  by  General  Howe,  Germantown,  Valley 
Forge,  and  the  evacuation  of  the  city  by  the  British.  Such 
groupings  can  be  worked  out  with  more  or  less  detail  as  cir¬ 
cumstances  may  determine,  and  may  be  rendered  the  more 
effective  by  writing  them  out  upon  the  blackboard  and  hav¬ 
ing  them  copied  into  notebooks. 

That  geographical  facts  are  much  better  understood,  and 
much  more  readily  retained  by  the  mind,  when  grouped  and 
clothed  with  a  human  interest — that  the  same  is  true  of  his¬ 
torical  facts  when  grouped  and  rested  on  their  geographical 
supports — are  commonplaces.  Full  play  for  the  invention 
of  the  teacher  is  given  in  the  effort  to  group  and  associate 
the  facts. 

The  system  of  waters  to  which  we  are  admitted  by  the 
strait  between  Cape  Charles  and  Cape  Henry  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting,  both  geographically  and  historically,  in 
our  whole  country.  These  waters  have  been  the  theater  of 
important  and  interesting  events  in  the  three  great  epochs 
of  our  history :  Discovery  and  Colonization,  the  Revolution, 
and  the  Civil  War.  One  or  two  places  and  three  or  four 
characters  become  at  once  centers  around  which  all  the  his¬ 
torical  facts  that  need  be  taught  can  be  grouped.  First,  we 


THE  PLACE  RELATION:  GEOGRAPHY. 


99 


have  Jamestown,  Captain  John  Smith,  Powhatan,  and  Po¬ 
cahontas;  secondly,  Yorktown,  Washington,  Pochambeau, 
and  Cornwallis;  thirdly,  Washington  and  Richmond,  Lin¬ 
coln,  Grant,  Davis,  and  Lee. 

The  history  of  Lakes  George  and  Champlain  and  the 
river  Richelieu  presents  three  or  four  interesting  groups  of 
facts.  Champlain,  the  Father  of  Canada,  appeared  on  the 
shore  of  the  lake  bearing  his  name,  surrounded  by  the  wild¬ 
ness  of  Nature,  in  the  year  1609.  In  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  these  waters  and  their  shores  were  a  main  thea¬ 
ter  of  the  French  and  Indian  War.  There  rise  up  before  us 
Fort  William  Henry,  Ticonderoga,  Crown  Point,  and  the 
wilderness  fortresses  of  less  degree ;  the  battlefields  of  Lake 
George,  William  Henry,  and  Ticonderoga;  the  figures  of 
Montcalm,  Abercrombie,  Lord  Howe,  and  Amherst.  Twenty 
years  later  came  the  army  sent  from  Canada  to  separate  the 
New  England  States  from  the  other  States.  Now  we  catch  a 
view  of  the  fields  of  Bennington,  Stillwater,  and  Saratoga ;  of 
Burgoyne  and  Gates,  Schuyler,  Stark,  and  Arnold.  Thirty- 
seven  years  later,  in  the  last  year  of  the  War  of  1812,  came 
Provost  and  Downie,  attempting,  like  Burgoyne,  to  split  the 
Union,  and,  like  him,  failing  in  their  purpose. 

Then,  the  Delaware  will  always  be  associated  with  great 
events :  as  Penn’s  treaty  with  the  Indians,  the  Continental 
Congress,  the  British  occupation,  and  the  Federal  Conven¬ 
tion;  and  with  great  characters,  as  Penn,  Dr.  Franklin,  and 
Washington. 

Groupings  of  historical  figures  and  scenes  around  geo¬ 
graphical  centers  make  these  centers  instinct  with  life  and 
motion,  while  the  centers  themselves,  binding  the  figures 
and  scenes  together,  give  them  a  new  permanence  and  solid¬ 
ity.  The  teacher  will  find  it  an  excellent  exercise  to  group 
a  series  of  essays  around  one  of  these  centers — excellent  for 
the  purposes  of  language  as  well  as  of  geography  and  his¬ 
tory.  Suppose  we  take  for  illustration  the  Champlain  Val¬ 
ley.  One  essay  will  do  for  Champlain  and  the  discovery 
of  the  lake;  a  dozen  can  be  assigned  to  the  men  and  the 


100 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


J 

events  of  the  French  and  Indian  War;  the  same  number  to 
the  Revolution.  The  whole  can  be  called  “Lake  Cham¬ 
plain  in  History.”  Of  course,  not  many  centers  of  historical 
activity  can  be  treated  in  so  thorough  a  way ;  some  can  be ; 
while  the  pupil  will  carry  the  method  and  the  habit  of 
mind  thus  created  to  other  facts  and  to  other  subjects. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


CAUSE  AND  EFFECT  IN  HISTORY. 

References, — Flint:  The  Philosophy  of  History  in  France  and 
Germany  (the  Introduction  contains  a  good  general  account  of  the 
development  of  the  idea) ;  Bunsen :  Outlines  of  the  Philosophy  of 
History  (compendious  General  Introduction) ;  Montesquieu :  The 
Spirit  of  Laws;  Buckle:  The  History  of  Civilization  in  England 
(Vol.  I.,  Chap.  I.) ;  Draper :  The  History  of  the  Intellectual  Develop¬ 
ment  of  Europe,  I.;  Guizot:  History  of  Civilization;  Lecky:  The 
Political  Value  of  History ;  Froude :  Short  Studies  of  Great  Sub¬ 
jects  (L,  Is  History  a  Science?  II.,  Scientific  Method  applied  to 
History),  The  Educational  Review,  V.,  (Inaugural  Lecture  as  Regius 
Professor  of  Modern  History  at  Oxford) ;  Gold  win  Smith :  Lectures 
on  the  Study  of  History  (I.,  An  Inaugural  Lecture,  II.,  III.,  On  the 
Study  of  History,  IV.,  On  Some  Proposed  Consequences  of  the  Doc¬ 
trine  of  Historical  Progress,  V.,  The  Moral  Freedom  of  Man) ;  La- 
visse:  General  View  of  the  Political  History  of  Europe;  Dabney: 
Papers  of  the  American  Historical  Association,  V.,  No.  III.  (Is  His¬ 
tory  a  Science?)  Harris:  id.,  V.,  No.  III.  (The  Philosophical  As¬ 
pect  of  History). 

The  Greek  thinkers  made  two  kinds  of  knowledge,  em¬ 
pirical  and  philosophical — knowledge  of  phenomena  and 
knowledge  of  causes.  They  also  called  these  two  forms  of 
knowledge  the  knowledge  that  and  the  knowledge  why. 
Perhaps  it  is  needless  to  say  that  the  second  is  much  the 
higher  kind  of  knowledge  ;  we  do  not  fully  know  a  thing 
until  we  can  explain  it  or  account  for  it.  Furthermore,  the 
mind  refuses  to  be  satisfied  with  mere  facts ;  it  asks  Why  ? 
and  Wherefore  ?  as  well  as  What  ?  and  does  not  rest  until  it 
has  discovered  the  reason  and  the  law  of  things. 


102 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Savages,  while  differing  from  civilized  men  in  the  meth¬ 
ods  that  they  use  and  in  the  results  that  they  reach,  still 
deal  with  causes.  They  think  themselves  surrounded  by 
occult  influences  and  mysterious  powers. 

In  the  midst  of  Nature  [it  has  been  said]  the  Indian  knew  noth¬ 
ing  of  her  laws.  His  perpetual  reference  of  her  phenomena  to  oc¬ 
cult  agencies  forestalled  inquiry  and  precluded  inductive  reasoning. 
If  the  wind  blew  with  violence,  it  was  because  the  water-lizard, 
which  makes  the  wind,  had  crawled  out  of  his  pool ;  if  the  lightning 
was  sharp  and  frequent,  it  was  because  the  young  of  the  thunder- 
bird  were  restless  in  their  nest ;  if  a  blight  fell  upon  the  corn,  it  was 
because  the  Corn  Spirit  was  angry ;  and  if  the  beavers  were  shy  and 
difficult  to  catch,  it  was  because  they  had  taken  offense  at  seeing  the 
bones  of  one  of  their  race  thrown  to  a  dog.* 

At  the  opposite  pole  of  thought  are  the  conceptions  of 
unity,  law,  and  order  which  constitute  the  core  of  modern 
science  and  philosophy. 

The  advance  from  the  stage  of  savage  thought  to  the 
stage  of  scientific  thought,  as  respects  the  physical  world, 
and  still  more  as  respects  the  moral  world,  cost  man  a  pro¬ 
digious  effort ;  in  fact,  the  conceptions  of  law,  order,  and 
unity  are  not  yet  as  firmly  fixed  in  the  second  as  they  are  in 
the  first.  Spiritual  phenomena  are  more  elusive  and  less 
easy  to  grasp  ;  while  we  are  here  called  upon  to  deal  with 
one  of  the  hardest  questions  of  philosophy,  viz.,  the  adjust¬ 
ment  of  man’s  free  will  to  universal  causation,  a  question 
that  happily  falls  outside  the  limits  of  the  present  discus¬ 
sion. 

The  notions  of  historical  uniformity  and  progress  were 
but  feebly  and  vaguely  discerned  in  antiquity.  In  his  Gen¬ 
eral  History  Polybius  rose  to  the  conception  of  the  univer¬ 
sal,  as  his  title  shows.  The  problem  that  he  set  for  him¬ 
self  to  solve  was  “  how,  in  the  short  space  of  fifty-three  years, 
all  the  known  parts  of  the  earth  were  reduced  beneath  the 


*  Parkman :  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,  Ixxxviii. 


CAUSE  AND  EFFECT  IN  HISTORY. 


103 


power  of  a  single  state.  .  .  .  The  most  useful  part  of  his¬ 
tory,”  he  wrote,  “  is  the  knowledge  of  what  passed  before 
and  after  every  great  event,  and  especially  of  the  causes  that 
produced  it.  .  .  .  It  is  not  possible  to  obtain  an  entire  view 
and  knowledge  of  the  whole  of  things  from  particular  his¬ 
tory.”  Christianity  was  based  upon  the  ideas  of  the  spiritual 
unity  of  the  whole  race  and  of  a  providential  plan,  and  so 
prepared  the  way  for  juster  views  of  the  scope  of  history. 
The  Middle  Ages,  so  far  from  advancing  the  philosophy  of 
history,  rather  introduced  new  and  hard  elements  into  the 
main  problem.  Froissart,  the  author  of  the  pictured  page 
of  chivalry,  caught  a  glimmer  of  the  larger  hearings  of 
things.  “  If  I  were  merely  to  say  such  and  such  things  hap¬ 
pened  at  such  and  such  times,”  he  wrote,  “  without  entering 
fully  into  the  matter,  which  was  grandly  horrible  and  dis¬ 
astrous,  this  would  be  a  chronicle,  but  no  history.”  Pascal, 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  worked  out  his  celebrated  anal¬ 
ogy  of  the  race  to  the  individual : 

The  whole  succession  of  human  beings  throughout  the  whole 
course  of  ages  must  be  regarded  as  a  single  individual  man,  continu¬ 
ally  living  and  continually  learning ;  and  that  shows  how  unwar¬ 
ranted  is  the  deference  we  yield  to  the  philosophers  of  antiquity ;  for, 
as  old  age  is  that  which  is  most  distant  from  infancy,  it  must  be 
manifest  to  all  that  old  age  in  the  universal  man  should  not  be 
sought  in  the  times  near  his  birth,  but  in  the  times  most  distant 
from  it.  Those  whom  we  call  the  ancients  are  really  those  who  lived 
in  the  youth  of  the  world  and  the  true  infancy  of  man  ;  and  as  we 
have  added  the  experience  of  the  ages  between  us  and  them  to  what 
they  knew,  it  is  only  in  ourselves  that  is  to  be  found  that  antiquity 
which  we  venerate  in  others. 

At  the  middle  of  the  last  century  Montesquieu  wrote  his 
epoch-making  book  The  Spirit  of  Laws,  in  which  he  strongly 
set  forth  the  doctrine  of  human  progress  through  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  general  causes.  His  philosophy  of  history  has 
been  summed  up  by  a  competent  hand  in  the  statement 
that  “  the  course  of  history  is,  on  the  whole,  determined  by 
general  causes,  by  widespread  and  persistent  tendencies,  by 


J04 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


broad  and  deep  undercurrents,  and  only  iofluenced  in  a 
feeble,  secondary,  and  subordinate  degree  by  single  events, 
by  definite  arguments,  by  particular  enactments,  by  any¬ 
thing  incidental,  isolated,  or  individual.”*  Turgot,  philoso¬ 
pher  and  statesman,  was  the  author  of  the  saying  so  often 
quoted  in  connection  with  the  American  Revolution,  “  Colo¬ 
nies  are  like  fruits,  which  cling  to  the  tree  only  imtil  they 
ripen.”  However,  Herder,  who  wrote  near  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  is  commonly  accounted  the  real  founder  of  the 
philosophy  of  history.! 

By  short  steps  and  slow,  philosophical  ideas  have  been 
introduced  into  the  field  of  historical  research.  Educated 
men  now  accept  the  fact  of  a  grand  moral  order  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  they  recognize  the  sway  of  law  over  the 
thoughts,  feelings,  and  actions  of  men,  and  so  over  history. 
Tennyson  expresses  the  optimistic  phase  of  this  view  in  the 
familiar  lines  : 

Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the 
suns. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  serious  dispute  over  the  question  how 

*  Flint :  The  Philosophy  of  History,  London,  1874,  p.  105.  I  am  indebted 
to  this  writer  for  several  references  and  quotations. 

!  “  Whenever  we  speak  of  society  as  an  organism^  whenever  we  con¬ 
ceive  of  languages,  customs,  laws,  institutions,  arts,  literatures,  and  religions 
as  organic  growths^  whenever  we  regard  the  whole  life  of  man — intellect¬ 
ual,  moral,  and  physical — as  a  gradual  development^  we  are  adopting  a 
mode  of  thought  of  which  our  race  had  no  inkling  before  the  last  third  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  which  was  first  proclaimed  in  the  immortal 
Fragments  of  the  youthful  Herder.  ‘  This,  to  be  sure,  is  a  madman  or  a 
genius !  ’  exclaimed  Wieland.  ‘  He  is  at  any  rate  the  only  one  for  whom  it 
is  worth  my  while  to  publish  my  ideas,’  said  Lessing.  Now  the  message 
with  which  this  youthful  prodigy  electrified  his  contemporaries  is  the  Ger¬ 
man  contribution  to  human  thought,  and  animating  principle  of  its  move¬ 
ments  from  that  day  to  this.  It  consists  in  the  substitution  of  fieri  for 
facere — of  spontaneous  evolution  for  intentional  institution — as  leading 
conception  in  the  study  and  interpretation  of  human  society  and  human 
civilization.” — Dr.  J.  G.  Schurman. 


CAUSE  AND  EFFECT  IN  HISTORY. 


105 


far  scientific  ideas  can  be  extended  in  history.  Some  writers 
regard  historical  facts  as  so  fixed  and  certain,  and  the  laws 
of  historical  development  as  so  definite,  as  to  justify  them  in 
calling  history  a  science  ;  others  insist  that  this  is  going  too 
far,  some  even  denying  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  phi¬ 
losophy  of  history.  To  a  considerable  extent  this  con¬ 
troversy  is  about  words  and  names,  and  not  about  facts  ;  at 
least,  the  writers  who  deny  that  there  is  a  science  or  even  a 
philosophy  of  history,  as  well  as  those  who  affirm  the  reality 
of  one  or  the  other,  hold  stoutly  to  historical  causation. 
Even  Mr.  Froude,  who  regards  history  merely  as  a  drama, 
admits  that  it  does  teach  that  right  and  wrong  are  true  dis¬ 
tinctions. 

It  is  in  the  doctrine  of  causation  that  we  find  the  value  of 
history  as  a  guide  and  a  discipline.  Rightly  led,  the  student 
does  not  struggle  with  a  mass  of  disconnected  and  meaning¬ 
less  facts,  but  pursues  his  work  under  the  guiding  principles 
of  unity  and  order.  The  conduct  is  shaped  and  the  intellect 
disciplined  by  grasping  the  fact  that  like  events  follow  like 
causes.  The  pupil  learns  the  law  that  whatever  a  man  or  a 
nation  sows,  that  must  be  reaped,  which  is  the  very  begin¬ 
ning  of  historical  wisdom.  He  sees  the  consequences  of  free¬ 
dom,  of  slavery,  of  war,  of  tyranny  and  oppression,  of  na¬ 
tional  prodigality  and  wastefulness.  He  learns  that  there  is 
no  universally  best  form  of  government,  but  that  the  form 
which  is  best  in  a  given  case  depends  upon  the  history  and 
the  genius  of  the  people,  and  that  that  is  best  relatively 
which  best  expresses  the  national  life.  He  does  not  learn  to 
accept  the  lines — 

For  forms  of  government  let  fools  contest ; 

Whatever  is  best  administered  is  best ; 

or  the  lines — 

How  small,  of  all  that  human  hearts  endure, 

That  part  which  kings  or  laws  can  cause  or  cure ; 

but  he  does  learn  that  the  springs  of  human  well-being,  both 
9 


106 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


individual  and  national,  lie  deep  in  the  character,  history, 
and  environment  of  men.  He  learns  that  poHtical  institu¬ 
tions  are  the  results  of  general  causes,  and  that  they  grow, 
and  are  not  merely  made.  He  learns  that  a  republican  gov¬ 
ernment  like  our  own  is  closely  dependent  upon  a  high 
stage  of  intelligence  and  virtue.  He  sees  that  a  nation’s 
civilization  is  characterized  by  a  certain  unity  ;  that  educa¬ 
tion,  morals,  politics,  and  social  Hfe  are  not  distinct  and 
separate  phenomena,  but  are  closely  related.  More  than 
this,  he  discovers  that  nations  are  dependent  upon  one  an¬ 
other  ;  that  no  one  country  has  totally  separate  interests, 
but  that  the  good  of  one  and  the  good  of  all  are  more  or  less 
closely  hound  up  together. 

He  learns  the  facts  so  well  stated  by  Mr.  Lecky  relative 
to  the  great  permanent  forces  that  are  steadily  hearing 
nations  onward  to  improvement  or  decay  : 

The  strongest  of  these  forces  are  the  moral  ones.  Mistakes  in 
statesmanship,  military  triumphs  or  disasters,  no  doubt  affect 
materially  the  prosperity  of  nations,  but  their  permanent  political 
well-being  is  essentially  the  outcome  of  their  moral  state.  Its  foun¬ 
dation  is  laid  in  pure  domestic  life,  in  commercial  integrity,  in  a 
high  standard  of  moral  worth  and  of  public  spirit,  in  simple  habits, 
in  courage,  uprightness,  and  self-sacrifice,  in  a  certain  soundness 
and  moderation  of  judgment,  which  springs  quite  as  much  from 
character  as  from  intellect.  If  you  would  form  a  wise  judgment  of 
the  future  of  a  nation,  observe  carefully  whether  these  qualities  are 
increasing  or  decaying.  Observe  especially  what  qualities  count  for 
most  in  public  life.  Is  character  becoming  of  greater,  or  less,  impor¬ 
tance  I  Are  the  men  who  obtain  the  highest  posts  in  the  nation  men 
of  whom  in  private  life  and  irrespective  of  party  competent  judges 
speak  with  genuine  respect  f  Are  they  men  of  sincere  convictions, 
sound  judgment,  consistent  lives,  indisputable  integrity!  or  are 
they  men  who  have  won  their  positions  by  the  arts  of  a  demagogue 
or  an  intriguer ;  men  of  nimble  tongues  and  not  earnest  beliefs — 
skillful,  above  all  things,  in  spreading  their  sails  to  each  passing 
breeze  of  popularity  I  Such  considerations  as  these  are  apt  to  b© 
forgotten  in  the  fierce  excitement  of  a  party  contest ;  but  if  history 
has  any  meaning,  it  is  such  considerations  that  affect  most  vitally 


CAUSE  AND  EFFECT  IN  HISTORY. 


107 


the  permanent  well-being  of  communities,  and  it  is  by  observing 
this  moral  current  that  you  can  best  cast  the  horoscope  of  a  nation. 

This  is  not  an  inappropriate  place  to  point  another  les¬ 
son  of  history,  one  presented  by  Lord  Bacon  in  his  essay  On 
Innovations.  These,  he  truly  tells  us,  are  the  births  of 
time.”  “  Time,”  he  says,  “  is  the  greatest  innovator.”  Also  : 
“It  were  good,  therefore,  that  men  in  their  innovations 
would  follow  the  example  of  Time  itself  ;  which  indeed  in- 
novateth  greatly,  but  quietly  and  by  degrees  scarce  to  be 
perceived.”  This  is  the  lesson  of  patience  and  of  watchful¬ 
ness.  It  by  no  means  follows  that  certain  causes  will  not 
produce  good  results  because  they  do  not  appear  at  once, 
or  that  other  causes  will  not  produce  evil  results  because 
they  do  not  immediately  declare  themselves.  “  The  move¬ 
ments  of  Providence,”  says  Guizot,  “  are  not  restricted  to  nar¬ 
row  bounds ;  it  is  not  anxious  to  deduce  to-day  the  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  premises  it  laid  down  yesterday.  It  may  de¬ 
fer  this  for  ages,  till  the  fullness  of  time  shall  come.  Its 
logic  will  not  be  less  conclusive  for  reasoning  slowly.  Prov¬ 
idence  moves  through  time,  as  the  gods  of  Homer  through 
space— it  makes  a  step,  and  ages  have  rolled  away.” 

In  a  word,  our  student  becomes  familiar  with  some  of 
the  many  valuable  lessons  of  history,  for  it  is  impossible  to 
pursue  intelligently  the  facts  without  getting  something  of 
their  meaning.  He  finds  also,  to  quote  Mr.  Lecky  again, 
that  history  “  is  one  of  the  best  schools  for  that  kind  of  rea¬ 
soning  which  is  most  useful  in  practical  life.  It  teaches 
men  to  weigh  confiicting  probabilities,  to  estimate  degrees  of 
evidence,  to  form  a  sound  judgment  on  the  value  of  authori¬ 
ties.  .  .  .  History  is  largely  concerned  with  the  kind  of 
probability  on  which  the  conduct  of  life  depends.” 

Accident,  or  what  Frederick  the  Great  called  King  Haz¬ 
ard,”  has  played  an  important  part  in  history.  Mr.  Lecky’s 
question  in  regard  to  Mohammed,  Charles  Martel,  and  Wash¬ 
ington  and  Napoleon  is  quoted  in  another  place.  The  same 
writer  affirms  that  the  course  of  European  history  would 


108 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


have  been  very  different  if  Hannibal  had  taken  and  de¬ 
stroyed  Rome  after  Cannae,  or  if  France,  instead  of  the  Re¬ 
gency  and  the  two  succeeding  Louises  had  been  under  such 
sovereigns  as  those  of  the  elder  house  of  Orange,  or  the 
Great  Elector,  or  Frederick  the  Great.  We  can  not  even 
imagine  in  what  channels  history  would  have  run  if  Oliver 
Cromwell  had  fallen  at  Edgehill  instead  of  John  Hampden, 
Wallenstein  at  Liitzen  instead  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  or 
Napoleon  at  Marengo  instead  of  Desaix.  The  part  that 
caprice  plays  in  history  is  at  once  serious  and  amusing. 
After  observing  that  love,  the  cause  of  which  is  an  “  I  know 
not  what,”  moves  princes,  armies,  the  entire  world,  Pascal 
adds  :  “  If  the  nose  of  Cleopatra  had  been  shorter,  the  whole 
face  of  the  earth  would  have  been  changed”  ;  and  Mr.  Green, 
remarking  upon  the  “  equable  serenity  ”  with  which  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough  met  the  “  pettiness  of  the  German 
princes,  the  phlegm  of  the  Dutch,  the  ignorant  opposition 
of  his  officers,  the  libels  of  his  political  opponents,”  says  : 
“  There  was  a  touch  of  irony  in  the  simple  expedients  by 
which  he  sometimes  solved  problems  which  had  bafided  cabi¬ 
nets.  The  King  of  Prussia  was  one  of  the  most  vexatious 
of  the  allies,  but  all  difficulty  with  him  ceased  when  Marl¬ 
borough  rose  at  a  state  banquet  and  handed  him  a  napkin.” 

Some  words  of  caution  must  be  added.  The  writer  or 
the  teacher  of  history  should  not  use  his  theme  as  a  vehicle 
for  conveying  favorite  ideas  or  doctrines.  It  is  not  his  main 
duty  to  teach  moral  lessons  directly  or  to  explain  social  or 
political  philosophy.  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  to  tell  his 
story  as  it  was — as  Carlyle  puts  it,  “he  is  to  come  at  some 
picture  of  the  thing  acted.”  What  happened?  is  his  first 
question,  truthful  narration  his  first  duty.  Bacon  wrote, 
in  the  Advancement  of  Learning  :  “  It  is  the  true  office  of  his¬ 
tory  to  represent  the  events  themselves,  and  to  leave  the  ob¬ 
servations  and  conclusions  thereof  to  the  liberty  and  faculty 
of  every  man’s  judgment.”  Causes,  reasons,  and  theories 
must  in  no  case  be  put  in  front  of  the  facts.  Moreover,  the 


CAUSE  AXD  EFFECT  IN  HISTORY. 


109 


logical  faculty  may  be  employed  with  altogether  too  much 
freedom.  These  significant  sentences  come  to  us  from  that 
profound  historical  scholar,  Guizot : 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  a  bad  principle  radically 
vitiates  an  institution,  nor  even  that  it  does  it  all  the  mischief  of 
which  it  is  pregnant.  Nothing  tortures  history  more  than  logic. 
No  sooner  does  the  human  mind  seize  upon  an  idea,  than  it  draws 
from  it  all  its  possible  consequences,  makes  it  produce  in  imagina¬ 
tion,  all  that  it  would  in  reality  be  capable  of  producing,  and  then 
figures  it  down  in  history  with  all  the  extravagant  additions  which 
itself  has  conjured  up.  This,  however,  is  nothing  like  the  truth. 
Events  are  not  so  prompt  in  their  consequences  as  the  human 
mind  in  its  deductions. 

Let  it  be  once  admitted  that  the  main  function  of  the  his¬ 
torian  or  teacher  is  to  inculcate  moral,  political,  or  religious 
lessons,  and  no  one  can  tell  what  distortion  of  facts  would 
follow.  The  historian  can  not  be  too  full  of  reverence  for 
what  Carlyle  called  the  “verities.” 

The  caution  must  be  made  still  stronger  in  the  case  of 
elementary  history.  Here  the  influence  of  the  teacher  may 
be  peculiarly  warping,  as  the  pupil  is  little  more  than  wax 
in  his  hands.  Besides,  at  this  stage  of  progress  the  main 
thing  in  hand  is  to  amass  materials  that  may  be  worked  up 
afterward. 

Once  more,  the  philosophy  should  be  incidental  rather 
than  obtrusive  ;  it  should  follow  the  examples.  A  tale  well 
told  points  its  own  moral  and  adorns  itself.  History  is  use¬ 
ful  as  a  guide  only  when  it  is  truly  narrated.  Its  very  first 
moral  lesson  is  to  teach  the  truth.  Accordingly,  the 
teacher,  to  adopt  another’s  words,  “  should  have  the  genuine 
historical  instinct,  the  true  enthusiasm  to  know  what  hap¬ 
pened  ;  he  should  be  fond  of  the  story  for  its  own  sake,  and 
be  in  love  with  things  not  merely  for  what  they  were,  but 
simply  because  they  were.” 


CHAPTER  X. 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY, 

References. — Reclus :  The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants,  with  Nu¬ 
merous  Illustrations  and  Maps  (Europe  5  vols.,  Asia  4  vols.,  Af¬ 
rica  4  vols.,  Oceanica  1  vol..  North  and  South  America  4  vols.  The 
last  four  volumes  are  entitled,  British  North  America;  Mexico,  Cen¬ 
tral  America,  and  the  West  Indies ;  The  United  States,  and  South 
America),  The  Earth,  a  Descriptive  History  of  the  Phenomena  of 
the  Life  of  the  (xlobe.  The  Ocean,  Atmosphere,  and  Life,  being  the 
Second  Series  of  a  Descriptive  History  of  the  Life  of  the  Globe ; 
Guyot :  Earth  and  Man ;  Montesquieu :  The  Spirit  of  Laws  (Books 
XIV.-XVIII.) ;  Buckle  and  Draper:  titles  before  given  {passim); 
Bryce :  The  Contemporary  Review,  XLIX.  (History  and  Geography) ; 
Mackinder:  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  IX., 
New  Series  (On  the  Scope  and  Methods  of  Geography) ;  Freeman  : 
Historical  Geography  of  Europe  (Introduction);  Curtius:  History 
of  Greece  (Book  the  First,  I.,  Land  and  People) ;  Thirlwall :  History 
of  Greece  (I.,  Geographical  Outlines  of  Greece) ;  Dr.  W.  Smith :  A 
History  of  Greece  (Introduction) ;  Lanciani :  Ancient  Rome  in  the 
Light  of  Recent  Discoveries  (II.,  The  Foundation  and  Prehistoric 
Life  of  Rome) ;  Goldwin  Smith :  Lectures  and  Essays  (The  Great¬ 
ness  of  the  Romans,  The  Greatness  of  England.  These  essays,  first 
published  in  The  Contemporary  Review,  are  excellent);  Taine: 
History  of  English  Literature  (Introduction),  Art  in  Greece ;  Green: 
A  Short  History  of  England,  The  Making  of  England,  A  Short 
Geography  of  the  British  Islands;  Huxley:  Physiography;  Mill: 
The  Realm  of  Nature,  An  Outline  of  Physiography  (XVII.,  Man  in 
Nature) ;  Shaler :  Introduction  to  the  Narrative  and  Critical  History 
of  America,  IV.  (Physiography  of  North  America), ‘Nature  and  Man 
in  America  (both  excellent);  Burgess:  Political  Science  and  Con¬ 
stitutional  Law  (Book  I.,  Chap.  II.,  The  Present  Geographical  Dis¬ 
tribution  of  Nations  and  Nationalities,  III.,  National  Political 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY. 


Ill 


Character,  IV.,  Conclusions  of  Practical  Politics  from  the  Forego¬ 
ing  Considerations  in  regard  to  Physical,  Ethnical,  and  Political 
Geography,  and  National  Characteristics);  Mahan:  The  Influence 
of  Sea  Power  upon  History,  1660-1783,  The  Influence  of  Sea  Power 
upon  the  French  Revolution  and  Empire,  1793-1812.  (A  distin¬ 
guished  foreign  critic  has  called  the  author  of  these  works  the  cre¬ 
ator  of  the  philosophy  of  naval  history.) 

The  reciprocal  influence  of  Man  and  Nature  is  one  of  the 
hard  subjects  with  which  modern  scientists  and  philosophers 
are  called  upon  to  deal.  The  action  of  Nature  and  the  reac¬ 
tion  of  man,  or,  as  some  might  prefer  to  state  it,  the  action 
of  man  and  the  reaction  of  Nature,  are  the  questions  that  it 
presents  for  answer.  While  it  is  not  necessary  that  the 
teacher  of  history  should  deal  with  these  questions  on  their 
speculative  side,  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  recognize  the 
principal  physical  factors. 

NaturaUy,  the  flrst  of  these  factors  to  attract  attention 
was  climate,  the  influence  of  which  on  the  character  and 
history  of  nations  was  recognized  by  the  Greek  thinkers. 
This  recognition  is  well  illustrated  by  the  passage,  hereafter 
quoted,  in  which  Aristotle  points  out  the  contrast  between 
Asia  and  Europe.  However,  the  Greek  writers  never  worked 
out  the  subject. 

Bodin,  who  died  in  1596,  was  apparently  the  flrst  modem 
writer  to  investigate  the  historical  influence  of  physical 
causes,  as  weU  as  the  flrst  to  vindicate  the  claim  of  all  reli¬ 
gious  confessions  in  a  state  to  equal  political  toleration.  Di¬ 
viding  nations  into  northern,  middle,  and  southern,  he  in¬ 
vestigated  with  much  fullness  of  knowledge  how  climate  and 
other  geographical  conditions  affect  the  bodily  strength,  the 
courage,  the  inteUigence,  the  humanity,  the  chastity,  and, 
in  short,  the  mind,  morals,  and  manners  of  peoples  ;  what 
influence  mountains,  winds,  diversities  of  soil,  etc.,  exert ; 
and  elicited  a  great  number  of  general  views,  some  of  which 
are  false,  but  some  also  true.* 


*  Flint :  Philosophy  of  History,  p.  74. 


112 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


In  the  Spirit  of  Laws,  published  in  1748,  Montesquieu 
sought  to  explain  how  laws  are  related  to  manners,  climates, 
creeds,  and  forms  of  government.  He  laid  great  stress  on 
the  physical  factors  in  civilization,  and  is  sometimes  said  to 
have  originated  the  doctrine  of  climates.  Five  of  his  books 
bear  titles  that  indicate,  in  a  general  way,  the  range  of  his 
inquiries  :  Of  Laws  as  relative  to  the  Nature  of  Climate  ;  In 
what  manner  the  Laws  of  Civil  Slavery  are  relative  to  the 
Nature  of  the  Climate  ;  How  the  Laws  of  Domestic  Slavery 
have  a  Relation  to  the  Nature  of  the  Climate  ;  How  the 
.Laws  of  Political  Servitude  have  a  Relation  to  the  Nature  of 
the  Climate  ;  Of  Laws  in  the  Relation  that  they  bear  to  the 
Nature  of  the  Soil.  Although  he  trenches  upon  the  practi¬ 
cal  denial  of  the  freedom  of  man,  he  still  .checks  himself, 
arguing  that  laws  also  bear  a  relation  to  the  principles  which 
form  the  general  spirit  of  the  morals  and  customs  of  a  na¬ 
tion — that  is,  the  principles  of  human  nature. 

This  leads  to  the  observation  that  here  we  meet  two  di¬ 
vergent  lines  of  thought.  The  question  at  issue  is  the  ad¬ 
justment  of  the  material  and  the  spiritual  elements  of  his¬ 
tory.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  students  of  physical 
science,  and  others  who  have  formed  similar  habits  of 
thought,  dealing  mainly  with  Nature,  are  led  to  emphasize 
the  material  element ;  while  philosophers  and  metaphysi¬ 
cians,  dealing  mainly  with  the  mind,  tend  to  emphasize  the 
spiritual  element. 

Mr.  Buckle  pushed  the  naturalistic  theory  to  its  farthest 
limit.  He  denied  all  freedom  to  man,  and  made  climate, 
food,  soil,  and  the  general  aspects  of  Nature  the  supreme 
and  ultimate  historical  causes.  For  example,  he  attributed 
the  superstition  of  Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal  to  earthquakes 
and  volcanic  eruptions,  and  the  Calvinistic  theology  of  Scot¬ 
land  to  the  rocks  and  mountains  of  the  country  and  the  sur¬ 
rounding  ocean  waste.* 

Dr.  J.  W.  Draper  wrote  his  History  of  the  Intellectual 


*  History  of  Civilization  in  England,  vol.  i,  p.  29,  88,  89  ;  vol.  ii,  p.  126. 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY.  113 


Development  of  Europe,  Civil  Polity  in  America,  and  His* 
tory  of  the  Civil  War,  on  the  naturalistic  theory. 

M.  Taine  laid  great  stress  upon  soil,  sky,  sea,  climate^ 
and  food  as  factors  in  the  intellectual  and  literary  history 
of  England  ;  in  fact,  he  wrote  his  History  of  English  Litera¬ 
ture  on  what  he  called  scientific  lines.  This  distinguished 
writer  was  accustomed  to  refer  historical  results  to  race,  en¬ 
vironment,  and  the  time. 

The  distinguished  scholar  and  diplomatist,  Mr.  George 
P.  Marsh,  handled  the  subject  in  his  Man  and  Nature,  now 
better  known  under  the  title.  The  Earth  as  modified  by  Hu¬ 
man  Action.  He  undertook  to  “  indicate  the  character  and 
extent  of  the  changes  produced  by  human  actions  in  the 
physical  conditions  of  the  globe,  to  point  out  the  dangers  of 
undue  interference  with  the  spontaneous  arrangements  of 
the  organic  or  inorganic  world,  to  suggest  the  possibility 
and  importance  of  the  restoration  of  harmonies  that  have 
been  disturbed,  and  incidentally  to  illustrate  the  doctrine 
that  man  is,  in  both  kind  and  degree,  a  power  of  a  higher 
order  than  any  of  the  other  forms  of  animated  life,  which, 
like  him,  are  nourished  at  the  table  of  bounteous  Nature.” 
Without  discussing  his  subject  in  its  speculative  bearings, 
Mr.  Marsh  accumulates  a  mass  of  most  interesting  facts 
showing  that  man  can  waste  and  repair  Nature,  and  that 
he  is  rather  her  master  than  her  slave. 

It  is  very  easy  to  exaggerate  the  value  of  either  the  hu¬ 
man  or  the  natural  factor  in  history,  and  very  hard  to  as¬ 
sign  to  either  its  just  and  appropriate  influence.  The  fact 
is,  neither  one  is  a  constant  quantity  ;  both  vary  with  coun¬ 
try,  race,  and  time. 

The  general  subject  has  not  been  introduced  for  discus¬ 
sion  on  its  speculative  side,  but  merely  to  pave  the  way  for 
some  examples  of  physical  causation.  Fii^t,  however,  it 
should  be  observed  that  Nature  exerts  upon  man  two  kinds 
of  influence.  How  far  climate,  food,  soil,  and  the  general 
aspects  of  Nature  affect  his  mind  and  character  directly,  we 
have  no  means  of  determining  ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  the 


114 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


direct  effect  of  such  agents  is  much  less  than  the  indi¬ 
rect  effect.  Through  the  social  wants  and  activities 
that  they  create  and  modify,  through  man’s  occupations 
and  pleasures,  through  his  general  habits,  they  exert 
upon  him  a  profound  influence  from  his  cradle  to  his 
grave.  The  sum  total  of  such  influence  is  known  as  en¬ 
vironment. 

Professor  Bryce,  discussing  with  much  learning  and 
acuteness  the  relations  of  history  and  geography,  divided 
the  general  subject  of  environment  into  three  groups  of 
factors,  all  closely  related  : 

I.  The  influences  that  are  due  to  the  conflguration  of  the 
earth’s  surface — that  is  to  say,  to  the  distribution  of  land  and 
sea,  the  arrangement  of  mountain  chains,  table-lands,  and 
valleys,  the  existence  of  rivers,  and  the  basins  which  they 
drain.  Nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that  these  facts 
almost  wholly  controlled  the  early  movement  of  races,  such 
as  migration,  and  that  they  powerfully  affect  military  opera¬ 
tions,  the  character  and  extent  of  conquests,  the  size  and  the 
boundaries  of  states,  the  location  and  character  of  cities,  the 
direction,  kind,  and  abundance  of  facilities  for  travel  and 
transportation,  the  presence  or  absence  of  harbors,  and  mari¬ 
time  commerce,  growth  of  military  and  naval  power,  the 
development  of  special  industries,  and  many  other  things  of 
the  greatest  interest. 

Dr.  Draper  remarks  that  Europe  is  geographically  a  pen¬ 
insula,  and  historically  a  dependency  of  Asia.  The  plains  of 
Central  and  Northern  Asia  are  prolonged  through  Central 
Europe  to  the  German  Ocean  and  the  Baltic  ;  the  average 
height  of  the  larger  continent  is  1,132  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  of  the  smaller  one  671  feet ;  from  the  Pacific  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  north  of  the  great  central  east-and-west 
mountain  axis,  a  distance  of  more  than  6,000  miles,  an  army 
could  march  without  having  to  encounter  any  elevation  of 
more  than  a  few  hundred  feet ;  with  an  abundance  of  springs 
and  head  waters,  but  without  any  stream  capable  of  offering 
a  serious  obstacle,  this  tract  has  a  temperature  weU  suited  to 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY.  115 


military  operations  ;  it  coincides  practically  with  the  annual 
isothermal  line  of  fifty  degrees,  keeping  just  north  of  the 
limit  of  vine  production — in  which  physical  facts  Dr.  Draper 
finds  the  reasons  why  the  Oriental  hordes  have  again  and 
again  poured  themselves  over  Europe. 

The  Spanish  Peninsula  has  a  marked  geographical  char¬ 
acter,  as  any  one  who  will  look  at  its  mountain  and  river 
systems,  its  plains  and  forests  on  a  map,  can  see  ;  and  this 
character  has  given  a  marked  individuality  to  Spanish  war¬ 
fare  from  the  earliest  times,  as  well  as  influenced  its  history 
in  many  other  important  ways.  Spain  is  a  hard  country  to 
subdue,  an  easy  one  to  defend — as  witness  its  history  in  the 
days  of  Hanuibal,  of  Sertorius,  and  of  Napoleon  and  Well¬ 
ington.  Perhaps  no  book  of  history  was  ever  written  that 
better  illustrates  the  influence  of  geography  and  topography 
upon  the  conduct  of  war  than  Napier’s  History  of  the  War 
in  the  Peninsula  and  the  South  of  France.  Guerrilla  war¬ 
fare,  it  is  worth  observing,  found  its  name,  if  indeed  it  did 
not  originate,  in  Spain.  The  name  dates  from  the  great  con¬ 
test  just  mentioned.  “  The  term  guerrilla^'*^  says  Dr.  Lieher, 
“  is  the  diminutive  of  the  Spanish  word  guerra,  and  means 
petty  war — that  is,  war  carried  on  by  detached  parties,  gen¬ 
erally  in  the  mountains  ” — a  kind  of  war  to  which  the  coun¬ 
try  is  especially  adapted. 

The  position  and  configuration  of  England,  her  insular 
character  and  relations  to  the  continent,  the  distribution  of 
her  river  valleys  and  uplands,  and  the  relations  of  these 
features  to  one  another  and  to  the  seashore,  have  had  a 
prodigious  influence  upon  English  history  and  character. 
How  potent  these  natural  factors  were  in  the  German  con¬ 
quest  of  the  island,  Mr.  Green  has  admirably  shown  in  his 
Short  History  of  England,  and  still  more  fuUy  in  his  Mak¬ 
ing  of  England.  Mr.  Mackinder  well  observes  that  the  sec¬ 
ond  of  these  books  is  largely  “  a  deduction  from  geographical 
conditions  of  what  must  have  been  the  course  of  history.” 
It  may  be  remarked  that  if  the  study  of  English  history 
could  be  accompanied  by  the  study  of  such  a  book  as  Mr. 


IIG 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


and  Mrs.  Green’s  Short  Geography  of  the  British  Islands,  it 
would  he  a  very  great  advantage. 

II.  The  influences  which  belong  to  meteorology  and 
climate,  meaning  thereby  the  conditions  of  heat  and  cold 
under  which  a  race  of  men  develops  itself  with  the  amount 
of  rain  and  the  recurrence  of  drought.  The  winds  also  play 
their  part.  These  agents  directly  affect  man’s  health, 
strength,  and  mental  character  ;  while  indirectly,  through 
soil  and  fertility,  with  which  they  are  so  closely  connected, 
they  almost  wholly  control  his  occupations.  It  is  no  acci¬ 
dent  that  great  peoples  and  states  have  never  appeared  be¬ 
yond  the  polar  circles  or  within  the  tropics,  or  that  the  main 
historical  movement  has  been  confined  to  the  north  temper¬ 
ate  zone.  The  Greek  genius  was  largely  indebted  to  the 
physical  influences  under  which  it  was  developed.  Mild 
and  clement  is  our  atmosphere,”  says  Euripides  ;  “  the  cold 
of  winter  is  for  us  without  rigor,  and  the  arrows  of  Phoebus 
do  not  wound  us.” 

A  people  formed  by  such  a  climate  [says  M.  Taine,  to  whom  1 
am  indebted  for  the  quotation]  develops  faster  and  more  harmoni¬ 
ously  than  any  other ;  man  is  neither  prostrated  nor  enervated  by 
excessive  heat,  nor  chilled  or  indurated  by  severe  cold.  He  is 
neither  condemned  to  dreamy  inactivity  nor  to  perpetual  labor ;  he 
does  not  lag  behind  in  mystic  contemplation  nor  in  brutal  barbar¬ 
ism.  Compare  a  Neapolitan  or  a  Proven  gal  with  a  man  of  Brit¬ 
tany,  a  Hollander,  or  a  Hindoo,  and  you  will  recognize  how  the 
mildness  and  moderation  of  physical  nature  endow  the  soul  with 
vivacity,  and  so  balance  it  as  to  lead  the  mind  thus  disposed  and 
alert  to  thought  and  to  action. 

Thucydides  observed  that  thought  was  the  only  peculiar¬ 
ity  of  the  Athenians. 

III.  The  third  class  of  elements  that  make  up  environ¬ 
ment  are  the  productions  which  a  country  offers  to  human 
industry.  Here  we  inventory  mines,  quarries,  the  products 
of  wells  and  springs,  field  and  forest,  fisheries  of  all  kinds, 
and  animals  both  wild  and  domesticated.  Professor  Bryce 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY.  117 


illustrates  how  a  narrow  range  of  productions  fatally  re¬ 
stricts  progress  in  the  arts  and  refinements  of  life,  by  in¬ 
stancing  Iceland.  The  race  is  of  admirable  quality,  but  the 
country  produces  nothing  save  a  few  sheep  and  horses,  and 
some  sulphur ;  it  has  not  even  fuel,  except  such  driftwood  as 
is  cast  upon  its  shores.  He  adds  that  if  the  highest  European 
races  were  placed  in  Central  or  Northern  Asia  they  would 
find  it  almost  impossible  to  develop  a  high  type  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  for  want  as  well  of  fuel  as  of  the  sources  of  commercial 
wealth.  Before  entering  upon  that  industrial  stage  in  which 
she  has  distanced  all  other  countries,  England  had  reached 
a  high  stage  of  agricultural  development  ;  she  has  now  ac¬ 
quired  such  a  momentum  that  she  could  possibly  survive  as 
an  industrial  nation  the  exhaustion  of  her  mineral  wealth  ; 
but  she  could  never  have  emerged  from  the  agricultural 
state  and  attained  her  present  industrial,  commercial,  and 
financial  standing  without  her  abundant  supplies  of  tin, 
copper,  iron,  and  coal.  In  the  earlier  period  the  center  of 
her  population,  power,  and  wealth  lay  in  the  south,  where 
the  richest  agricultural  districts  are  found ;  but  in  the  pres¬ 
ent  period  this  center  has  moved  northward,  where  exist  the 
sinews  of  manufacturing  and  commerce.  Geological  maps 
and  maps  showing  the  distribution  of  population,  of  wealth, 
and  even  of  political  parties,  are  very  significant  when 
studied  in  relation.  Eastern  Yorkshire  and  western  Lan¬ 
cashire  are  strongly  conservative  in  politics;  western  York¬ 
shire  and  eastern  Lancashire  tend  to  radicalism ;  the  eastern 
part  of  the  one  county  and  the  western  part  of  the  other  are 
mainly  agricultural  districts,  where  the  infiuence  of  the 
upper  classes  and  of  the  farmers  is  decisive,  while  within 
these  limits  lies  a  great  manufacturing,  mining,  and  trad¬ 
ing  population,  with  wit,  education,  and  radical  opinions. 
“  Those  who  examine  Lancashire  schools  are  struck,”  says 
Professor  Bryce,  “  by  the  difference  between  the  sharpness 
of  the  boys  in  the  east  Lancashire  hill  country  and  the  slug¬ 
gishness  of  those  who  dwell  on  the  flats  along  the  coast  be¬ 
tween  Liverpool  and  Morecambe.”  The  mines  of  Lanca- 


US 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


shire  called  manufactures  into  being  and  created  trade ;  and 
these  factors,  with  all  that  they  imply,  have  changed  the 
region  from  a  fastness  of  Toryism  into  a  hive  of  Radicalism. 
So  true  is  it,  as  Mr.  Green  says,  that  “  history  strikes  its  roots 
in  geography ;  for  without  a  clear  and  vivid  realization  of 
the  physical  structure  of  a  country  the  incidents  of  the  life 
which  men  have  lived  in  it  can  have  no  interest  or  mean¬ 
ing.  Through  history  again  politics  strike  their  roots  in 
geography,  and  many  a  rash  generalization  would  have  been 
avoided  had  political  thinkers  been  trained  in  a  knowledge 
of  the  earth  we  live  in,  and  of  the  influence  which  its  vary¬ 
ing  structure  must  needs  exert  on  the  varying  political  tend¬ 
ency  and  institutions  of  the  peoples  who  part  its  empire  be¬ 
tween  them.” 

The  foregoing  illustrations  will  make  plain  Professor 
Bryce’s  very  useful  distinctions.  At  the  same  time,  the  ele¬ 
ments  into  which  he  resolves  environment  are  always  more 
or  less  mixed  up  in  history  ;  and  since  it  requires  some  skill 
to  separate  them,  it  will  be  better,  in  teaching  the  elements  of 
the  subject,  not  to  attempt  careful  analysis  but  to  handle  the 
factors  in  groups.  Some  illustrations  of  this  method  may 
be  presented. 

Mr.  Buckle  points  out  that  the  growth  of  civilization  is 
possible  only  in  countries  having  a  class  of  men  who  possess 
the  time,  the  disposition,  and  the  means  to  observe  and  to 
investigate  the  various  subjects  upon  which  such  growth 
depends,  as  the  facts  of  Nature  and  the  laws  of  the  human 
mind.  But  a  class  of  men  in  the  possession  of  leisure,  dis¬ 
position  to  study,  and  opportunity  to  study,  can  exist  only  in 
countries  where  there  is  a  sufficient  accumulation  of  wealth 
to  free  them  from  the  necessity  of  constant  physical  toil. 
Obviously,  if  every  man  is  intensely  absorbed  in  the  struggle 
for  physical  existence,  society  can  not  move  forward. 
Thirdly,  the  accumulation  of  wealth  depends  upon  natural 
factors  ;  soil  and  climate  condition  the  rewards  of  labor,  cli¬ 
mate  conditions  the  energy  and  constancy  of  labor.  Hence, 
fourthly,  those  countries  were  sure  to  become  the  earliest 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY.  119 


seats  of  civilization  where  Nature  provided  good  opportune 
ties  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  and  so  the  material  pos* 
sibility  of  study  and  mental  progress.  Finally,  he  remarks 
that  such  conditions  existed  in  Hindostan  and  in  Egypt,  in 
Central  America,  in  Mexico,  and  in  Peru,  countries  that  be¬ 
came  early  if  not  the  earliest  seats  of  civilization  on  their 
respective  continents.  Herodotus  called  Egypt  the  gift  of 
the  Nile.  The  Nile  Valley  is  a  thick  deposit  of  the  richest 
soil,  which  the  annual  overflow  of  the  river  constantly  re¬ 
plenishes  ;  the  rainless  sky  and  the  equable  temperature 
make  continuous  labor  possible,  while  the  river  furnishes 
the  source  of  natural  or  artiflcial  irrigation.  early  hus¬ 
bandman  was  assured  good  harvests  and  abundant  food,  and 
thus  the  first  condition  of  progress  was  secured. 

Greece  affords  one  of  the  best  illustrations  of  the  effect  of 
environment  upon  historical  development.  The  psycho¬ 
logical  effects  of  the  sky  and  atmosphere  have  already  been 
mentioned.  The  geniality  of  the  climate  tends  to  modera¬ 
tion  in  eating  and  to  the  use  of  light  clothing,  necessities 
that  the  country  well  supplied  ;  as  a  result,  man  was  not 
compelled  to  undergo  grinding  toil  to  procure  the  means  of 
material  subsistence,  and  so  was  left  with  time  to  indulge 
the  disposition  to  investigate,  which  all  the  influences  that 
played  upon  him  tended  to  create.  The  country  is  a  penin¬ 
sula,  or  rather  a  complex  of  peninsulas,  the  whole  singularly 
pierced  by  gulfs  and  bays,  as  well  as  crossed  and  recrossed 
by  mountain  ranges,  and  so  divided  into  a  great  number  of 
smaU  plains  and  valleys,  each  more  or  less  cut  off  from  the 
others,  at  the  same  time  that  it  lies  open  to  the  sea.  At  no 
point  is  the  traveler  far  from  the  seashore,  and  at  few  points 
is  he  out  of  sight  of  the  great  mountain  mass  of  Parnassus, 
which  occupies  such  an  important  place  in  Greek  history. 
It  is  said  to  be  very  difficult  for  one  who  has  never  visited 
Greece  to  realize  the  diminutive  scope  of  its  geography.  At¬ 
tica  and  ^gina  together  contain  no  more  than  seven  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  square  miles  of  territory,  and  in  antiquity 
they  never  had  a  population  exceeding  half  a  miUion  people. 


120 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TKACH  HISTORY. 


In  addition  to  this  remarkable  accessibility  from  the  sea, 
attention  must  be  drawn  to  the  larger  geographical  relations 
of  Greece — to  the  islands,  large  and  small,  that  surround  it 
on  all  sides  except  the  north  ;  to  the  not  distant  shores  of 
Thrace,  of  Asia  Minor,  of  Africa  and  of  Italy  ;  to  the  Black 
Sea,  to  the  Nile,  and  to  the  Mediterranean.  In  these  factors 
scholars  have  found  causes  of  the  most  prominent  features 
of  the  Greek  mind  and  life  ;  the  wonderful  mental  gifts  of 
the  people,  their  seafaring,  trading,  and  colonizing  habits, 
their  free,  adventurous  spirit,  and  especially  their  political 
institutions,  and  the  whole  form  and  spirit  of  their  public 
life.  In  her  early  history  Greece  contained  about  as  many 
independent  states  as  she  had  definite  units  of  territory,  plain 
or  valley  ;  a  state  of  things  that  resulted  in  a  free  and  vigor¬ 
ous  political  life,  marked  by  intense  patriotism  and  local 
spirit,  hut  tending  to  division  and  strife,  to  the  lack  of  gen¬ 
eral  political  ideas,  to  internal  war,  to  what  the  Germans 
call  particularism,  and  Americans  States-rights,  and  so  to 
eventual  weakness.  The  final  result  was,  since  these  divis¬ 
ive  and  separatist  tendencies  could  never  be  overcome,  that 
Greece  became  a  prey  to  internal  faction  and  external  force. 
Environment,  first  by  contributing  to  the  creation  of  the 
people,  and  then  to  the  direction  and  control  of  their  activ¬ 
ity,  certainly  had  much  to  do  with  causing  the  brilliant  de¬ 
velopment  and  early  decadence  of  the  Grecian  race.  It  was 
no  miracle  and  no  accident  that  the  first  European  civiliza¬ 
tion,  and  in  some  respects  the  greatest  European  civilization, 
sprang  up  in  Greece. 

As  a  rule,  the  location  of  cities  has  been  controlled  bv 
what  Mr.  Mackinder  happily  calls  “geographical  selection.” 
Two  excellent  examples  of  such  selection  may  he  borrowed 
from  that  writer.  On  the  northeast  of  the  Ganges  Valley 
lie  the  vast  Himalayas,  practically  impassable  to  man  ;  on 
the  northwest  is  the  Sulaiman  range,  pierced  by  passes 
through  which  numerous  conquerors  have  entered  India 
from  the  uplands  of  Iran.  Parallel  with  the  Sulaiman  is  the 
Thar,  or  great  Indian  Desert.  Between  the  desert  and  the 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY.  121 


Himalayas  the  fertile  belt  is  closely  contracted,  forming  a 
pass  that  affords  the  only  approach  to  the  valley  at  that  ex¬ 
tremity.  Close  to  the  eastern  end  of  this  pass,  at  the  head  of 
the  Ganges  navigation,  stands  Delhi,  the  natural  center  of 
commerce  and  the  natural  base  of  military  operations  in  all 
that  region.  At  its  eastern  extremity  the  valley  is  very  in¬ 
accessible,  owing  to  the  absence  of  natural  harbors  and  tc 
the  heavy  surfs  that  beat  upon  the  shore.  But  the  mouth, 
of  the  river  is  a  great  water-gate  for  the  interior,  and  here 
on  the  Hoogly,  at  the  intersection  of  ocean  and  river  trans¬ 
portation,  a  natural  base  of  naval  and  military  operations, 
the  British  have  built  up  Calcutta.  The  fertility  of  the 
Ganges  Valley  is  proverbial  ;  at  its  extremities  are  found 
the  two  gates  of  India,  and  it  is  quite  in  the  nature  of  things 
that  these  gates  are  held  by  the  cities  of  Delhi  and  Calcutta. 

Alexander  located  the  city  that  bears  his  name  at  the  in¬ 
tersection  of  the  Mediterranean  and  Nile  commerce,  having 
particularly  in  view  the  control  of  the  most  southern  of  the 
old  lines  of  communication  between  the  Indies  and  the  West. 
For  many  centuries  Alexandria  was  the  grand  depot  from 
which  the  Indian  goods  were  distributed  throughout  the 
Mediterranean  basin.  Constantinople  is  the  gate  both  to  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  ^gean,  both  to  southeastern  Europe 
and  northwestern  Asia,  according  as  you  approach  it  from 
the  one  direction  or  the  other.  This  city  also  sits  upon  one 
of  the  old  channels  of  Eastern  commerce. 

Study  of  the  cities  of  Italy  is  peculiarly  interesting. 
Rome  was  probably  founded  by  shepherds,  who,  moved  by 
volcanic  disturbances  or  by  an  insufficiency  of  pasture  lands, 
or  by  both,  descended  with  their  ffocks  and  herds  from 
their  ancestral  seats  on  the  Alban  Hills  into  the  extensive 
and  fertile  plain  watered  by  the  Tiber  and  encircled  by 
mountains  and  the  sea  that  has  long  been  known  as  the 
Campagna.  Coming  to  the  conspicuous  group  of  hills  and 
ridges  near  the  river,  they  seized  and  fortified  the  Palatine, 
which  best  met  their  need  of  a  dwelling  place  and  a  protec¬ 
tion.  Livy  describes  Rome  as  situated  on  healthy  hills,  by  a 
10 


122 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


coDvenieDt  river,  equally  adapted  to  inland  and  maritime 
commerce,  the  sea  not  too  far  off  to  prevent  a  brisk  inter¬ 
national  trade,  or  so  near  as  to  expose  it  to  the  danger  of  a 
sudden  attack  from  foreign  vessels  ;  a  site  right  in  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  the  peninsula — a  site  made,  as  it  v^^ere,  on  purpose  to 
allow  the  city  to  become  the  greatest  in  the  world.  No  whit 
inferior  were  the  military  and  political  advantages  of  the 
site. 

In  the  first  place  [says  Professor  Goldwin  Smith],  her  position 
was  such  as  to  bring  her  into  contact  from  the  outset  with  a  great 
variety  of  races.  The  cradle  of  her  dominion  was  a  sort  of  ethno¬ 
logical  microcosm.  Latins,  Etruscans,  Greeks,  Campanians,  with 
all  the  mountain  races  and  the  Gauls,  made  up  a  school  of  the  most 
diversified  experience,  which  could  not  fail  to  open  the  minds  of  the 
future  masters  of  the  world.  How  different  was  this  education 
from  that  of  a  people  which  is  either  isolated,  like  the  Egyptians,  or 
comes  into  contact  perhaps  in  the  way  of  continual  border  hostility 
with  a  single  tribe  !  ...  In  the  second  place,  the  geographical  cir¬ 
cumstances  of  Rome  combined  with  her  character  would  naturally 
lead  to  the  foundation  of  colonies,  and  of  that  colonial  system  which 
forms  a  most  important  and  beneficent  part  of  her  empire. 

The  great  change  in  their  circumstances  wrought  a  grad¬ 
ual  change  in  the  character  of  the  primitive  shepherds  and 
their  descendants.  They  took  on  one  that  better  suited  their 
new  position.  Planted  as  they  were  in  a  meeting  place  of 
nations,  brought  into  close  and  constant  competition  with 
the  strongest  peoples  of  Italy,  the  Romans  developed  those 
practical,  industrial,  and  business  habits,  and  those  military 
and  political  virtues  that  finally  gave  them  universal  empire. 
Rome  made  the  Romans  quite  as  much  as  the  Romans  made 
Rome.  Hidden  away  in  some  out-of-the-way  place,  there  is 
not  the  slightest  reason  to  think  that  they  would  ever  have 
made  a  name  in  history.  All  roads  led  to  Rome  before  the 
first  one  had  been  built. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  relations  of  the  principal 
cities  of  Northern  Italy  to  the  great  valley  of  the  Po  on  the 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY. 


123 


one  side  and  to  the  mountain  passes  that  connect  the  Penin¬ 
sula  with  Central  and  Western  Europe  on  the  other.  Turin 
commands  the  approach  to  the  Mont  Cenis  Pass  from  the 
south.  Milan,  which  has  as  changeful  a  history  perhaps  as 
any  city  in  Europe,  stands  almost  in  the  mouths  of  the  Sim¬ 
plon  and  St.  Gothard  passes.  Verona  is  at  the  opening  of 
the  Brenner.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  state  of  things  in 
Northern  Italy  other  than  complete  barbarism  in  which 
Milan  would  not  be  an  important  city.  At  first  one  might 
not  detect  the  hand  of  geographical  selection  in  the  case  of 
Venice.  Still,  under  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  the 
times  in  which  it  was  founded  its  site  was  happily  chosen. 
In  his  course  of  destruction,  Attila  obliterated  many  towns, 
including  the  colony  of  Aquilia,  which  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  Adriatic,  in  some  such  relation  as  Trieste  stands  to-day. 
The  homeless  inhabitants  of  Aquilia  sought  refuge  among 
the  islands  formed  by  the  detritus  brought  down  to  the  gulf 
by  the  network  of  rivers  that  rise  in  the  Alps  and  that  dis¬ 
charge  themselves  on  that  shore.  This  immigration  was 
the  beginning  of  Venice.  Shut  in  by  the  sea,  cut  off  from 
the  land,  protected  by  her  inaccessibility,  favored  in  later 
times  by  the  Eastern  Empire,  and  planted  on  what  was 
long  the  best  route  for  the  conveyance  of  the  rich  products 
of  Indian  commerce  to  Central  and  Western  Europe,  Venice 
slowly  raised  her  obscure  head  above  the  mud  of  the  la¬ 
goons,  developed  a  population  rich  in  practical  talents  and 
in  genius,  and  won  and  long  held  a  foremost  place  among 
the  powers  of  the  world. 

Not  to  mention  other  writers,  both  Mr.  Green  and  Mr. 
Mackinder  have  graphically  described  the  physical  factors 
that  contributed  to  the  founding  of  the  great  British  me¬ 
tropolis,  in  the  position  of  which  lay  whole  volumes  of  Eng¬ 
lish  history.  “  That  many  causes  conspire  to  maintain  the 
greatness  of  London,”  says  Mr.  Mackinder,  “  is  a  fact  to  he 
marked.  It  is  the  secret  of  its  persistent  growth  from  the 
earliest  times.  The  importance  of  the  given  geographical 
features  varies  with  the  degree  of  man’s  civilization.  A 


124 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


city  which  depends  on  one  physical  advantage  may  faU  at 
any  moment.  A  single  mechanical  discovery  may  effect 
the  change.”  In  connection  with  London,  Green’s  Short 
Geography  and  Huxley’s  Physiography  may  be  studied 
wuth  much  advantage. 

Geographical  selection  is  easily  recognizable  in  the  loca¬ 
tion  of  the  large  cities  of  our  own  country.  New  York  has 
clearly  demonstrated  its  superiority  to  all  other  points  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  as  a  great  mart  of  trade.  At  the  time  of 
the  Revolution  both  Boston  and  Philadelphia  had  about 
the  same  population,  hut  once  connected  wuth  the  West 
by  a  great  line  of  internal  communication,  the  Erie  Canal, 
its  extraordinary  growth  began.  It  should  have  been  per¬ 
fectly  apparent  from  the  first  opening  up  of  the  Great 
West  to  the  light  of  civilization,  that  whenever  that  vast  re¬ 
gion  should  become  the  seat  of  empire,  there  would  be  a 
great  center  of  population,  trade,  and  wealth  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Michigan,  at  or  near  where  Chicago  stands.  San 
Francisco  is  only  the  redemption  of  Nature’s  pledge  that  a 
great  city  would  spring  up  at  the  Golden  Gate  whenever  the 
Pacific  Slope  should  really  come  into  the  possession  of  civ¬ 
ilized  men. 

In  such  a  sketch  as  the  present  one  the  sea  calls  for  little 
more  than  casual  mention.  That  it  modifies  climate,  chang¬ 
ing  temperature  and  distributing  moisture,  and  so  bringing 
fertility  of  soil  ;  that  it  affects  the  character  and  habits  and 
the  pursuits  of  men  and  nations;  that  it  yields  rich  harvests 
of  wealth  to  the  industry  of  man — furs,  fish,  pearls,  sponges, 
corals,  ivory,  amber,  salt,  oil,  and  chemicals  ;  that  it  furnishes 
the  great  highways  of  commerce  and  of  war,  and  opens 
to  the  statesman  and  jurist  a  whole  volume  of  questions  that 
profoundly  affect  human  progress — these  are  commonplaces. 
The  influence  of  sea  currents,  of  the  trade  winds  and  the 
monsoons  upon  human  society,  is  suggested,  if  not  worked 
out,  in  every  book  of  physical  geography.  On  the  maritime 
and  naval  side  history  does  full  justice  to  the  theme.  Wit¬ 
ness  such  volumes  as  those  of  Captain  Mahan’s  The  Infiu- 


PHYSICAL  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY.  125 


ence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History,  and  The  Influence  of  Sea 
Power  upon  the  French  Revolution  and  Empire. 

In  the  British  Islands  we  have  the  most  notable  example 
of  the  effect  of  insular  conditions,  physical  and  human, 
upon  civilization.  Speaking  of  the  special  political  attri¬ 
butes  of  an  island,  Professor  Goldwin  Smith  finds  that  it  is 
likely  to  be  settled  by  a  bold  and  enterprising  race,  devoted 
to  political  liberty  ;  that  the  spirit  of  freedom  and  independ¬ 
ence  of  this  race  is  likely  to  be  intensified  by  the  very  pro¬ 
cess  of  migration  ;  that  the  island  is  likely  to  be  free  from 
invasion,  and  so  be  left  to  develop  in  its  own  way  ;  that  its 
isolation  tends  in  the  same  direction,  and  that  an  insular 
position  gives  birth  to  commerce  and  calls  out  the  corre¬ 
sponding  elements  of  political  character.  Add  to  these  attri¬ 
butes  the  climate  of  Great  Britain,  its  agricultural  and  min¬ 
eral  resources,  and  its  relations  to  the  continent  of  Europe 
and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  we  have  the  principal  natural 
factors  that  have  contributed  to  its  greatness.  Here  are  the 
causes,  in  great  degree,  of  England’s  vast  colonial  empire. 
It  may  he  observed,  too,  that  no  one  can  imagine  in  what 
different  directions  English  history  would  have  run  had  the 
country  been  trampled  under  the  feet  of  invading  armies, 
like  France,  Germany,  or  Italy,  as  to  some  extent  must 
have  been  the  case  had  not  the  English  Channel  prevented. 

What  has  been  said  in  this  chapter  is  but  a  meager  treat¬ 
ment  of  a  great  subject.  It  will,  however,  serve  to  ex¬ 
plain  the  stress  that  historians  place  on  environment,  and 
also  emphasize  the  observations  of  a  distinguished  living 
scholar : 

A  national  history,  as  it  seems  to  us,  ought  to  commence  with 
a  survey  of  the  country  or  locality — its  geographical  position,  cli¬ 
mate,  productions,  and  other  physical  circumstances  as  they  bear 
on  the  character  of  the  people.  We  ought  to  be  presented,  in 
short,  with  a  complete  description  of  the  scene  of  the  historic 
drama,  as  well  as  with  an  account  of  the  race  to  which  the  actors 
belong.  In  the  early  stages  of  its  development,  at  all  events,  man 
is  mainly  the  creature  of  physical  circumstances ;  and  by  a  system- 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


atic  examination  of  physical  circumstances  we  may  to  some  extent 
cast  the  horoscope  of  the  infant  nation  as  it  lies  in  the  arms  of 
Nature. 

Still,  we  can  not  too  much  emphasize  the  fact  that  en¬ 
vironment  does  not  make  the  nation  or  build  the  city. 
Geo^aphical  selection  points  the  way,  but  man  does  the 
work.  Sometimes,  indeed,  he  seems  to  disregard  the  direc¬ 
tions.  Read  Macaulay’s  eloquent  description  of  Tyre,  built 
on  a  bare  rock  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  ;  of  Venice,  rising  out 
of  the  lagoons  of  the  Adriatic  ;  of  Amsterdam,  reared  upon 
a  desolate  marsh  covered  with  fog.  Then  there  is  St,  Peters¬ 
burg,  that  Tsar  Peter  built  in  a  swamp  inundated  by  the 
Neva,  by  the  tide,  and  by  on-shore  storms.  Much  stress 
must  also  be  placed  on  what  Mr.  Mackinder  calls  “  the  mo¬ 
mentum  acquired  in  the  past.  .  .  .  Milford  Haven,  in  the 
present  state  of  things,  offers  far  greater  physical  advan¬ 
tages  than  Liverpool  for  the  American  trade  ;  yet  it  is  im¬ 
probable  that  Liverpool  will  have  to  give  way  to  Milford 
Haven,  at  any  rate  in  the  immediate  future.  It  is  a  case 
of  vis  inertia.’*^  The  location  of  our  National  capital  was 
the  effect  of  causes  that  no  longer  exist ;  at  present  it  is  very 
far  from  satisfactory  to  large  portions  of  the  country ;  but 
there  is  not  the  slightest  probability  at  present  of  some 
Western  city  taking  the  place  of  Washington.  Chicago 
may  not  have  been  the  best  site  for  the  great  center  of  col¬ 
lection  and  distribution  at  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  ;  but 
it  has  acquired  such  momentum,  that  not  even  its  total 
destruction  could  now  effect  a  change  so  long  as  the  site 
remains  inhabitable. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


HUMAN  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY. 

References— :  The  Politics (VII,  7) ;  Flint :  The  Philos¬ 
ophy  of  History  in  Germany  and  France  (Introduction);  Guizot, 
History  of  Civilization  ;  Lecky :  History  of  the  Rise  and  Influence  of 
the  Spirit  of  Rationalism  in  Europe  (Introduction),  The  Political 
Value  of  History:  Carlyle:  Heroes  and  Hero  Worship;  Buckle, 
Draper,  Bryce,  Mackinder,  and  Lavisse,  as  before. 

Marsh :  The  Earth  as  Modifled  by  Human  Action  (Introduction). 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  environment  alone  accom¬ 
plishes  any  historical  result.  Environment  acts  upon  and 
through  man,  contributing  to  the  formation  of  his  character 
and  conditioning  his  activities.  In  the  truest  sense,  Nature 
is  not  an  historical  cause  at  all.  History  is  not  primarily 
a  study  of  circumstances,  but  of  the  human  agents  that 
exist  and  act  among  circumstances  ;  not  a  study  of  envi¬ 
ronment,  but  of  what  man  does  acting  under  environment. 
Hence  the  paramount  importance  of  the  topics  to  be  pre¬ 
sented  in  this  chapter. 

Human  nature  sums  up  the  main  historic  causes  and 
agents  ;  the  native  and  universal  qualities  of  the  race,  the 
complex  of  characters  that  mark  man  off  from  inferior 
creatures.  Sagacious  as  are  some  species  of  animals,  we 
have  no  difficulty  in  distinguishing  the  works  of  man  from 
their  works — the  ant,  the  bee,  or  the  beaver.  How  human 
nature  originates — whether  it  is  the  product  of  development 
from  an  inferior  nature,  as  the  evolutionists  tell  us,  or  the 
product  of  an  original  creative  act,  subsequently  modified 
by  external  conditions — is  a  question  quite  apart  from  our 


128 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  aUACIl  HISTORY. 


present  purpose.  The  main  fact  is,  that  man,  irrespective 
of  his  origin,  is  the  subject  of  history.  Although  hedged 
about  with  metes  and  bounds,  he  is  capable  within  certain 
large  limits  of  rising  above  circumstances  or  conditions  and 
of  asserting  a  lordship  over  Nature.  Man,  then,  is  the  start¬ 
ing  point  in  studying  history.  The  teacher  need  not  indeed 
begin  with  psychology,  or  with  a  theory  of  human  nature  ; 
moreover,  since  this  is  constantly  assumed  and  generally 
understood,  formally  to  introduce  it  on  every  occasion  would 
be  the  merest  pedantry  ;  still,  there  are  times  when  some 
analysis  may  be  profitably  indulged  in,  as  in  inquiring  into 
the  causes  of  the  slave  trade  and  of  wars  of  conquest.  These 
remarks  premised,  we  may  enter  upon  a  more  detailed  ex¬ 
amination  of  our  subject. 

I.  How  far  race  character  and  national  character  are  due 
to  native  inherent  qualities,  and  how  far  to  environment,  is 
a  hard  question,  but  fortunately  one  that  lies  outside  of  our 
present  field.  Certainly  they  are  among  the  most  potent 
of  historical  causes.  In  a  celebrated  passage  Aristotle 
pointed  out  the  obvious  contrast  between  the  repose  of  Asia 
and  the  energy  of  Europe.  After  speaking  of  the  number 
of  citizens  of  a  state,  he  proceeds  to  speak  of  what  should  be 
their  character  : 

This  is  a  subject  which  can  be  easily  understood  by  any  one  who 
casts  his  eye  on  the  more  celebrated  states  of  Hellas,  and  generally 
on  the  distribution  of  races  in  the  habitable  world.  Those  who 
live  in  a  cold  climate  and  in  [northern]  Europe  are  full  of  spirit, 
but  wanting  in  intelligence  and  skill ;  and  therefore  they  keep  their 
freedom,  but  have  no  political  organization,  and  are  incapable  of 
ruling  over  others.  Whereas  the  natives  of  Asia  are  intelligent  and 
inventive,  but  they  are  wanting  in  spirit,  and  therefore  they  are  al¬ 
ways  in  a  state  of  subjection  and  slavery.  But  the  Hellenic  race, 
which  is  situated  between  them,  is  likewise  intermediate  in  charac¬ 
ter,  being  high-spirited  and  also  intelligent.  Hence  it  continues 
free,  and  is  the  best  governed  of  any  nation,  and,  if  it  could  be 
formed  into  one  state,  would  be  able  to  rule  the  world.  There  are 
also  similar  differences  in  the  different  tribes  of  Hellas ;  for  some  of 


HUMAN  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY. 


129 


them  are  of  a  one-sided  nature,  and  are  intelligent  or  courageous 
only,  while  in  others  there  is  a  happy  combination  of  both  qualities. 

Summing  up  the  teachings  of  Baron  Montesquieu,  Pro¬ 
fessor  Flint  tells  us  that — 

Every  civilized  people  is  pervaded  by  a  common  spirit,  which  is 
in  fact  but  another  word  for  the  whole  of  its  civilization,  and  which 
is  the  substance  of  its  life,  the  chief  source  of  its  actions,  carrying 
along  with  it  those  who  are  unconscious  of  it  and  those  even  who 
wish  to  resist  it,  incapable  of  being  changed  otherwise  than  slowly 
and  by  the  concurrence  of  many  agencies,  and  feebly  modifiable  by 
laws,  while  so  profoundly  operative  on  them  as  to  be  able  to  make 
them  either  honored  or  despised. 

The  national  character  of  the  Jews,  the  Greeks,  and  the 
Romans — the  first  religious,  the  second  philosophical  and 
literary,  and  the  third  practical  and  legal  in  their  genius — 
are  historical  factors  of  the  greatest  value  and  consequence. 
Such  factors  should  he  studied  both  with  reference  to  the 
causes  that  produce  them  and  the  effects  that  they  them¬ 
selves  produce.  Hereafter  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak 
of  the  Spanish,  French,  and  English  characters  as  they  re¬ 
veal  themselves  in  early  American  history. 

II.  To  analyze  the  genius  of  the  age — what  the  German 
calls  the  Time  Spirit — showing  what  it  is,  how  it  comes, 
and  why  it  goes — is  no  easy  task.  That  it  exercises  a  con¬ 
trolling  power,  subordinate  only  to  race  and  national  char¬ 
acter,  can  not  he  doubted.  Great  events  can  not  be  accom¬ 
plished  until  the  world  is  ready  for  their  accomplishment. 
The  New  Testament  teaches  that  the  greatest  event  in  human 
history,  the  most  supernatural,  demanded  a  long  previous 
preparation  :  when  the  fullness  of  time  was  come,  God  sent 
forth  his  Son.  At  one  time  the  dogmatic  spirit,  at  another 
time  the  scholastic  spirit,  at  a  third  the  spirit  of  classical  an¬ 
tiquity,  and  then  again  the  rationalistic  or  modern  spirit, 
has  swayed  the  minds  of  men. 

The  Time  Spirit  creates  the  age.  Some  things  can  be  done 
but  once.  The  world  will  not  see  the  Crusades  repeated. 


130 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


The  mediaeval  cathedrals,  which,  as  has  been  said,  “often 
rose  out  of  towns  which  were  then  Httle  better  than  collec* 
tions  of  hovels,  with  but  small  accumulations  of  wealth,  and 
without  what  we  now  deem  the  appliances  of  civilized  Hfe, 
and  that  also  mark  the  highest  ascent  of  man’s  spiritual  na¬ 
ture  above  the  realities  of  his  worldly  lot,”  can  not  be  dupli¬ 
cated.  We  do  not  anticipate  new  migrations  of  nations  like 
those  that  broke  up  the  Roman  Empire,  and  a  second  age  of 
maritime  discovery  is  impossible. 

The  spirit  of  the  age  is  not  the  creature  of  chance,  but  is 
the  product  of  causes  that  may  in  part  be  discovered.  For 
example,  as  one  has  observed,  every  great  change  of  belief 
in  Europe  has  been  preceded  by  a  great  change  in  its  intel¬ 
lectual  condition  ;  the  success  of  any  opinon  has  depended 
less  upon  the  force  of  its  arguments  or  the  ability  of  its  ad¬ 
vocates  than  upon  the  predisposition  of  society  to  receive  it, 
while  this  predisposition  results  from  the  intellectual  type 
of  the  age.  Men  do  new  things  because  they  want  to  do 
them,  and  they  cease  doing  them  because  they  have  come  to 
feel  more  interest  in  something  else.  So  they  change  their 
opinions,  not  so  much  because  they  are  convinced  by  formal  ’ 
arguments  of  the  unsoundness  of  the  old  and  of  the  sound¬ 
ness  of  the  new,  as  because  they  grow  out  of  the  old  and 
grow  into  the  new. 

III.  Individual  genius  is  an  historic  cause.  To  adjust 
the  great  man  and  his  time  is  almost  as  difficult  as  it 
is  to  adjust  free  will  and  universal  causation.  How  far 
is  the  great  man  a  cause,  how  far  an  effect  ?  At  this 
point  two  divergent  tendencies  of  thought  present  them¬ 
selves. 

Carlyle  emphasizes  in  the  strongest  manner  individuali" 
ties,  and  denounces  the  opposite  tendency  as  machine- like 
and  degrading.  He  sneers  at  all  attempts  to  account  for 
the  great  man,  as  to  show  that  he  is  a  product  of  the  times, 
and  maintains  that  universal  history,  “  the  history  of  what 
man  has  accomplished  in  this  world,  is  at  bottom  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  great  men  who  have  worked  here.”  His  doc- 


HUMAN  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY. 


131 


;trine  is  that  “  history  is  the  essence  of  innumerable  biogra¬ 
phies.” 

Mr.  Buckle  is  perhaps  the  hest  representative  of  the 
counter  tendency.  He  makes  almost  nothing  of  individ¬ 
ualities,  denies  the  fact  of  free  will,  and  resolves  history 
into  a  necessary  sequence,  the  action  of  general  causes. 
The  reasons  by  which  writers  of  this  class  maintain  their 
view  within  the  political  sphere,  Mr.  Lecky  thus  summa¬ 
rizes  : 

In  the  sphere  of  politics  a  similar  law  prevails,  and  the  fate  of 
nations  largely  depends  upon  forces  quite  different  from  those  on 
which  the  mere ipolitical  historian  concentrates  his  attention.  The 
growth  of  militaiy  or  industrial  habits;  the  elevation  or  depression 
of  different  classes.;  the  changes  that  take  place  in  the  distribution 
of  wealth  ;  inventions  or  discoveries  that  alter  the  course  or  charac¬ 
ter  of  industry  or  commerce,  or  reverse  the  relative  advantages  of 
different  nations  in  the  competitions  of  life ;  the  increase  and  still 
more  the  diffusion  of  knowledge ;  the  many  influences  that  affect 
convictions,  habits,  and  ideals,  that  raise  or  lower  or  modify  the 
moral  tone  and  -type — all  these  things  concur  in  shaping  the  des¬ 
tinies  of  nations.  Legislation  is  only  really  successful  when  it  is 
in  harmony  with  the  general  spirit  of  the  age.  Laws  and  statesmen 
for  the  most  part  indicate  and  ratify,  but  do  not  create.  They  are 
like  the  hands  of  tlm  watch,  which  move  obedient  to  the  hidden 
machinerv  behind. 

The  truth  lies  between  these  two  extremes.  Both  in¬ 
dividualities  and  general  causation  play  important  parts  in 
'history.  Peter  the  Hermit  must  preach  the  Crusade,  Luther 
must  lift  up  the  banner  of  the  Eeformation,  Napoleon  must 
lead  the  armies  of  the  Pevolution  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  world  must  be  ready  for  Peter  the  Hermit,  for  Luther, 
and  for  Napoleon,  or  he  will  accomplish  little  or  nothing. 
Certainly  the  mere  effervescence  and  fermentation  of  so¬ 
ciety  in  itself  leads  to  nothing  useful  and  permanent.  The 
crusading  spirit  did  not  preach  the  Crusade,  mere  reforming 
tendencies  did  not  nail  the  theses  to  the  church  door  or  con- 
ifront  Charles  V  .at  Worms,  the  Kevolution  as  a  Zeitgeist 


132 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


did  not  overrun  and  conquer  all  Western  and  Central  Eu¬ 
rope.  Carlyle,  in  his  hero  worship,  scouts  the  very  condi¬ 
tions  that  make  the  hero  possible  ;  Buckle,  in  his  devotion 
to  history  as  a  science,  overlooks  the  hero  altogether.  “The 
times,”  says  Carlyle,  “  have  indeed  called  loudly  enough  for 
the  great  man,  and  he  has  not  answered.”  To  which  Mr. 
Buckle  might  reply  with  equal  truth,  “  The  great  man  has 
indeed  called  loudly  enough  to  the  times,  and  the  times  have 
not  answered.”  M.  Compayre  tells  us  very  truly  that  “the 
most  brilliant  personality  can  do  nothing  if  the  society  in 
which  it  finds  itself  is  not  propitious,  if  circumstances  do  not 
second  its  action.”  Guizot  very  properly  makes  great  men, 
as  Charlemagne  and  Alfred,  one  of  the  elements  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries,  when  Europe  was 
laboring  to  emerge  from  her  barbarous  condition. 

While  emphasizing  the  force  of  main  historical  currents, 
Mr.  Lecky  still  assigns  an  important  place  to  “  men  of 
genius,  who  are  commonly  at  once  representative  and  crea¬ 
tive.  They  emibody  and  regulate  the  tendencies  of  their 
time,  but  they  also  frequently  materiaUy  modify  them,  and 
their  ideas  become  the  subject  or  the  basis  of  the  succeeding 
developments.”  He  observes  further  that  men  like  Bacon» 
Descartes,  and  Locke  “  have  introduced  peculiar  habits  of 
thought,  new  modes  of  reasoning,  new  tendencies  of  in¬ 
quiry,”  thus  giving  a  powerful  causal  impulse  first  to  the 
higher  literature  and  then  to  the  more  popular  writers  ;  and 
also  that,  since  invention  and  material  change  create  intel¬ 
lectual  influences — since  a  railroad,  for  example,  can  not  be 
laid  down  without  an  intellectual  result — “it  is  probable  that 
Watt  and  Stephenson  will  eventually  modify  the  opinions  of 
mankind  almost  as  profoundly  as  Luther  or  Voltaire.”  Mr. 
Lecky  also  tells  us  that,  “  though  there  are  certain  streams  of 
tendency,  though  there  is  a  certain  steady  and  orderly  evolu¬ 
tion  that  it  is  impossible  in  the  long  run  to  resist,  yet  indi¬ 
vidual  action  and  even  mere  accident  have  borne  a  very 
great  part  in  modifying  the  direction  of  history.  ”  He  avows 
the  opinion  that  if  Mohammed  had  been  kiUed  in  one  of  his 


HUMAN  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY. 


133 


first  skirmishes,  Mohammedanism,  with  its  prodigious  con¬ 
sequences,  would  have  been  unheard  of  ;  also  the  opinion 
that  if  Charles  Martel  had  been  defeated  at  the  battle  of 
Tours,  the  course  of  European  history  would  have  run  in 
very  different  channels ;  and  asks,  finally,  what  the  result 
would  have  been  “  if,  at  the  French  Revolution,  the  supreme 
military  genius  had  been  connected  with  the  character  of 
Washington  rather  than  with  the  character  of  Napoleon.” 

Without  entering  further  into  the  speculative  discussion 
of  the  subject,  we  shall  altogether  miss  the  mark  unless  we 
recognize  the  force  and  value  of  the  leaders  of  mankind, 
who  are  genuine  historic  causes  of  great  potency.  The  his¬ 
tory  of  no  country  more  forcibly  illustrates  the  regular  and 
orderly  flow  of  historical  causation  than  our  own  ;  but  it  is 
impossible  to  conceive  what  our  history  would  have  been 
without  Washington,  Hamilton,  Jefferson,  Marshall,  Lin¬ 
coln,  and  Grant. 

Among  the  potent  causes  that  act  in  history — in  war, 
politics,  religion,  industry,  and  trade — ideas  and  sentiments 
must  be  assigned  a  high  rank.  Under  every  historical 
movement  can  he  found  some  human  factor  that  transcends 
mere  physical  causation.  Even  the  most  repulsive  political 
and  military  struggles  can  be  made  intelligible  by  referring 
them  to  human  motives.  Armies  have  sometimes  been 
counted  the  playthings  of  kings,  and  war  their  pastime. 
But  the  lines — 

But  war ’s  a  game  which,  were  their  subjects  wise, 

Kings  would  not  play  at — 

is  only  partly  true.  Ambitious  rulers  have  much  to  answer 
for,  but  war  has  not  often  been  mere  ruthless  slaughter, 
killing  for  the  sake  of  killing  ;  on  the  contrary,  state  poli¬ 
cies  or  national  ideas  are  almost  always  more  or  less  in¬ 
volved.  Rome  and  Carthage  contested  the  supremacy  of 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  ;  they  represented  antagonistic  ideas 
and  policies,  and  the  best  interests  of  mankind  demanded 
that  Rome  should  triumph.  The  rule  of  England  in  India, 


134: 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TKACIi  IIISTOKY. 


harsh  as  it  sometimes  seems,  promotes  the  well-being  of 
the  people,  and  autocratic  Russia  is  fulfilling  a  mission  in 
Central  Asia.  The  destroyers  Alaric  and  Attila  embcdi^‘d 
the  ideas  and  the  passions  of  the  societies  that  produced 
them,  and  from  which  they  derived  their  power.  Napoleon 
was  the  child  of  the  Revolution  ;  Emerson  says  of  him  that 
he  succeeded  because  he  was  surrounded  by  little  Napoleons, 
who  saw  in  him  only  their  own  aims  and  desires.  “  Gen¬ 
erally  speaking,”  says  Von  Moltke,  “  it  is  no  longer  the  am¬ 
bition  of  monarchs  which  endangers  peace  ;  the  passions  of 
the  people,  its  dissatisfaction  with  interior  conditions  and 
affairs,  the  strife  of  parties,  and  the  intrigues  of  their  leaders^ 
are  the  causes.  ” 

Now,  it  is  the  business  of  the  historian,  and  of  the  teacher 
of  history,  to  bring  the  ideas,  sentiments,  and  passions  that 
act  in  human  affairs  to  the  surface,  and  to  make  them  intel¬ 
ligible.  Why  could  not  Rome  and  Carthage  live  at  peace  ? 
What  did  the  Hohenstaufen  emperors  stand  for,  and  what 
were  the  ideas  of  their  foes  south  of  the  Alps  ?  When  we 
pass  from  wars  to  campaigns  and  battles,  we  are  still  con¬ 
fronted  by  ideas,  only  the  teacher  must  now  be  careful  not 
to  weigh  the  pupil  down  with  an  excess  of  details.  To 
teach  wars,  campaigns,  marches,  and  battles  merely  as  facts 
is  very  unprofitable  employment.  Great  military  com¬ 
manders  have  always  been  men  of  great  minds,  and  the  im¬ 
provement  of  weapons,  the  perfection  of  army  organization, 
and  the  extension  of  transportation  facilities  and  means  of 
supply  are  constantly  making  war  more  and  more  a  matter 
of  science.  Not  Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  but  Count  von 
Moltke  is  the  typical  soldier  of  our  times.  Then  the  teacher 
of  military  history  should  recognize  the  difference  between 
strategy  and  tactics  :  the  first  is  the  name  of  movements 
that  bring  armies  together  on  the  field  of  battle,  the  second 
of  movements  on  the  field  itself.  As  a  rule  these  smaller 
movements  should  be  left  to  fall  out  of  sight,  for  they  will 
not  be  remembered  ;  commonly  it  is  sufficient  to  grasp  a 
battle  as  one  transaction,  but  sometimes  a  brilliant  manoeu- 


HUMAN  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  L\  HISTORY. 


135 


vre,  a  gallant  charge,  a  stubborn  defense,  will  seize  the  im¬ 
agination  and  fix  the  whole  action  in  the  mind. 

Such  are  some  of  the  larger  forces  that  act  in  history. 
All  or  nearly  all  of  them  may  be  separated  into  parts  or 
elements,  but  it  best  answers  the  present  purpose  to  handle 
them  as  units.  They  also  interact,  to  a  degree  are  mutual 
causes  and  effects,  and  they  all  work  together  toward  one 
grand  result. 

The  relations  of  the  two  great  groups  of  historic  factors 
are  very  much  a  question  of  time  and  development.  “  With 
each  advance  of  intellectual  power,  the  dependence  [of  man] 
upon  environment  becomes  more  and  more  intimate,  for 
with  that  intelligence  the  creature  seeks  beyond  itself  for  op¬ 
portunities  to  gratify  its  desires.  ”  So  says  Professor  Shaler. 
Professor  Bryce  presents  a  different  view  : 

Man  in  his  early  stages  is  at  the  mercy  of  Nature.  Nature  does 
with  him  practically  whatever  she  likes.  He  is  obliged  to  adapt 
himself  entirely  to  her.  But  in  process  of  time  he  learns  to  raise 
himself  above  her.  It  is  true  he  does  so  by  humoring  her,  so  to 
speak,  by  submitting  to  her  forces.  In  the  famous  phrase  of  Bacon, 
Natura  non  nisi  parendo  vincitur,  Nature  is  not  conquered  except 
by  obeying  her ;  but  the  skill  which  man  acquires  is  such  as  to  make 
him  in  his  higher  stages  of  development  always  more  and  more  in¬ 
dependent  of  Nature,  and  able  to  bend  her  to  his  will  in  a  way  that 
aboriginal  man  could  not  do.  He  becomes  independent  of  climate, 
because  he  has  houses  and  clothes ;  he  becomes  independent  of  winds,, 
because  he  propels  his  vessels  by  steam ;  to  a  large  extent  he  be¬ 
comes  independent  of  daylight,  because  he  can  produce  artificial 
light. 

Mr.  Mackinder  takes  the  same  view : 

The  relative  importance  of  physical  features  varies  from  age  to 
age,  according  to  the  state  of  knowledge  and  of  material  civilization. 
The  improvement  of  artificial  lighting  has  rendered  possible  the  ex¬ 
istence  of  a  great  community  at  St.  Petersburg.  The  discovery  of 
the  Cape  route  to  India  led  to  the  fall  of  Venice.  The  invention  of 
the  steam  engine  and  the  electric  telegraph  have  rendered  possible 
the  great  size  of  modern  states. 


136 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Touching  the  last  point  it  may  be  observed  that  the 
American  Union  probably  could  not  have  attained  its  pres¬ 
ent  proportions,  and  certainly  could  not  have  held  perma¬ 
nently  together  if  it  had  attained  them,  had  these  two  great 
inventions  never  been  made. 

Thus,  in  his  savage  state  man  is  a  feeble  slave,  cowering 
at  the  feet  of  Nature,  his  foster  mother  ;  while  in  a  state  of 
high  civilization  he  obtains  a  mastery  and  lordship  over  her. 
Unfortunately,  this  lordship  is  not  always  beneficently  as¬ 
serted.  Man  shows  his  power  in  destruction  as  well  as  in 
construction.  Mr.  Marsh  reminds  us  that  more  than  one 
half  the  extent  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  “  including  the  prov¬ 
inces  celebrated  for  the  profusion  and  variety  of  their  spon¬ 
taneous  and  their  cultivated  products,  ...  is  either  deserted 
by  civilized  men  and  surrendered  to  hopeless  desolation,  or 
at  least  greatly  reduced  in  both  productiveness  and  popu¬ 
lation.”  Both  history  and  architectural  remains  testify  to 
a  population,  wealth,  and  power  in  Northern  Africa,  the 
Greater  Arabian  Peninsula,  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  Armenia, 
and  many  other  provinces  of  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Sicily,  and 
parts  even  of  Italy  and  Spain  to  which  they  are  now  and 
long  have  been  utter  strangers.  More  definitely,  the  learned 
author  finds  the  causes  of  this  state  of  things,  partly  in 
geological  agents  that  man  can  not  resist  or  guide,  partly  in 
ignorant  disregard  of  the  laws  of  Nature,  as  the  consequences 
of  war,  misrule,  tyranny,  and  despotism.  ‘‘Man  can  not 
struggle  at  once,”  he  says,  “  against  crushing  oppression  and 
the  destructive  forces  of  inorganic  Nature.  When  both  are 
combined  .against  him,  he  succumbs  after  a  shorter  or  a 
longer  struggle,  and  the  fields  he  has  won  from  the  primeval 
wood  relapse  into  their  original  state  of  wild  and  luxuriant 
but  unprofitable  forest  growth,  or  fall  into  that  of  a  dry 
and  barren  wilderness.”  We  may  sum  up  in  the  words  of 
M.  Lavisse  : 

Nature  has  written  on  the  map  of  Europe  the  destiny  of  certain 
regions.  She  determines  the  aptitudes  and  hence  the  destiny  of  a 


HUMAN  CAUSES  THAT  ACT  IN  HISTORY. 


137 


people.  The  very  movement  of  events  in  history  creates,  moreover, 
inevitable  exigencies,  one  thing  happening  because  other  things  have 
happened.  On  the  other  hand,  Nature  has  left  on  the  map  of  Eu¬ 
rope  free  scope  to  the  uncertainty  of  various  possibilities.  History 
is  full  of  accidents,  the  necessity  of  which  cannot  be  demonstrated. 
Finally,  there  exists  free  power  of  action,  which  has  been  exercised 
by  individuals  and  nations.  Chance  and  freedom  of  action  oppose 
alike  the  fatality  of  Nature  and  the  fatality  of  historical  sequence. 
To  what  extent  each  of  these  four  elements  has  influenced  history 
cannot  be  determined  with  exactness. 

This  chapter  concludes  the  formal  discussion  of  the  or¬ 
ganization  of  historical  events.  A  word  of  caution  may 
here  be  of  service.  By  an  organization  of  facts  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  any  one  of  the  three  categories,  is  to  be  understood 
a  view  of  the  facts  under  that  aspect.  Thus  we  obtain  the 
three  phases  under  which  the  facts  may  be  considered  ab¬ 
stracted  from  one  another.  The  teacher  should  promote 
such  abstraction  in  due  time  and  according  to  just  measure, 
because  it  will  give  distinctness  to  the  three  aspects,  and 
will  cause  the  facts  to  be  better  understood  and  especially 
to  be  better  remembered.  But  it  is  not  meant  that  the  facts 
should  be  taught  three  times  over  in  three  different  ways, 
and  that  the  pupil  should  be  left  with  three  different  his¬ 
tories  of  the  same  country,  man,  or  period  in  his  mind. 
History  is  a  unit,  and  as  a  unit  it  must  be  studied.  The 
student  must  take  the  facts  as  they  come  to  him — time, 
place,  and  cause  all  at  once.  While  the  teacher,  for  the 
reasons  given,  must  lead  the  pupil  to  step  aside  and  view 
the  facts  under  the  three  relations — that  is,  cause  him  to 
exercise  the  faculty  of  analysis  on  the  relations — he  must 
remember  that  the  final  stage  of  any  completed  mental 
action  is  not  analysis,  but  synthesis,  and  that  the  student, 
when  he  dismisses  a  subject,  should  have  integrated  the 
materials  with  reference  to  the  three  canons — should  see 
the  action  soUd^  just  as  it  occurred. 


11 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  teacher’s  QUALIFICATIONS. 

References. — The  Duke  of  Argyll :  Iona ;  Morison :  Macaulay 
(English  Men  of  Letters  Series) ;  Br}xe :  English  Historical  Review, 
vol.  vii,  page  497  (Edward  Augustus  Freeman);  Fiske:  Atlantic 
Monthly,  January,  1893  (Edward  Augustus  Freeman) ;  Morley :  Crit¬ 
ical  Miscellanies,  Second  Series  (France  in  the  Eighteenth  Century) ; 
Stanley:  Historical  Memorials  of  Canterbury;  Macaulay:  Essays 
(Mackintosh’s  History  of  the  Revolution  of  1688);  Trevelyan :  Life  • 
and  Letters  of  Lord  Macaulay  (Chaps.  VII,  XI) ;  Freeman :  Methods 
of  Historical  Study ;  Seeley :  Macmillan’s  Magazine,  vol.  xlv,  page 
43  (A  Historical  Society),  id.,  vol.  xlvii,  page  76  (On  History  Again), 
The  Expansion  of  England,  Second  Series  (History  and  Politics); 
Schouler :  Magazine  of  American  History,  vol.  xviii,  page  326  (His¬ 
torical  Grouping). 

His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  commenting  upon  those 
objects  of  interest  so  dissimilar  in  kind,  the  two  neighboring 
islands,  Iona  and  Staffa — “Iona  dear  to  Christendom  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years  ;  Staffa  known  to  the  scientific 
and  curious  only  since  the  close  of  the  last  century ’’—ob¬ 
serves  that  “  the  aspects  of  Nature  will  always  be  more  gen¬ 
erally  attractive  than  the  history  of  man.  ...  It  requires,” 
he  says,  “  no  previous  knowledge,  and  no  preparation  of  the 
memory  or  the  imagination,  to  be  impressed  by  Fingal’s 
Cave.  The  great  hall  of  columns  standing  around  their 
ocean  floor  and  sending  forth  in  ceaseless  reverberations  the 
solemn  music  of  its  waves  is  a  scene  which  appeals  to  every 
eye,  which  all  can  understand,  and  which  none  are  likely  bo 
forget.  .  .  .  With  Iona  it  is  very  different.  Its  interest  lies 


THE  TEACHERS  QUALIFICATIONS. 


139 


altogether  in  human  memories.  The  stranger  must  bring 
with  him  the  knowledge  and  the  reflection  which  alone  en¬ 
able  him  to  enjoy  what  is  of  real  interest  in  the  associations 
and  in  the  appearance  of  the  place.”  These  observations, 
the  appositeness  of  which  will  not  be  questioned,  happily 
suggest  a  contrast  between  history  and  science.  Whether 
the  student  of  the  one  division  of  knowledge  requires  a  larger 
preparation  than  the  student  of  the  other,  we  need  not  curi¬ 
ously  inquire.  It  is  certainly  true  that  the  observation  and 
interpretation  of  the  memorials  of  human  life  are  less  easy 
and  congenial  to  the  natural  mind  than  the  like  processes  in 
respect  to  the  external  world,  and  that  the  pursuit  of  history 
calls  for  a  preparation  quite  different  from  that  of  science. 

The  qualities  that  make  the  successful  teacher  are  not  dif¬ 
ferent  from  the  qualities  that  make  the  successful  historian. 
That  great  master  of  historical  learning.  Bishop  Stubbs,  said 
the  author  of  A  Short  History  of  the  English  People, 
“  possessed  in  no  scanty  measure  all  the  gifts  that  contribute 
to  the  making  of  a  great  historian.  He  combined,  so  far  as 
the  history  of  England  is  concerned,  a  complete  and  Arm 
grasp  of  the  subject  in  its  unity  and  integrity  with  a  won¬ 
derful  command  of  details  and  a  thorough  sense  of  perspec¬ 
tive  and  proportion.  In  him  the  desire  of  stating  and  point¬ 
ing  the  truth  of  history,  was  as  strong  as  the  wish  to  make 
both  his  pictures  and  his  arguments  telling  and  forcible.  And 
then,  to  add  still  more  to  the  debt  we  owe  him,  there  is  the 
•  wonderful  simplicity  and  beauty  of  the  way  in  which  he 
tells  his  tale.”  The  more  the  items  in  this  bill  of  particu¬ 
lars  are  considered,  the  more  will  their  justness  and  compre¬ 
hensiveness  appear.  They  are,  grasp  of  the  subject  in  its 
unity  and  integrity,  command  of  details,  sense  of  perspec¬ 
tive  and  proportion,  desire  to  state  and  point  the  truth,  and 
ability  to  tell  a  tale  in  a  simple  and  pleasing  manner. 

Grasp  of  the  subject  in  its  unity  and  mastery  of  de¬ 
tails  are  closely  related.  Manifestly,  a  subject  can  not  he 
unified  imtil  its  elements  have  been  studied.  Still,  the  two 
powers  are  not  necessarily  equal  in  the  same  mind  ;  one 


140 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


person  may  be  distinguished  by  the  number  and  variety  of 
facts  that  he  has  accumulated,  another  by  the  completeness 
with  which  he  has  brought  them  into  one  general  view. 
The  emphasis  should  be  placed  with  primary  reference  to 
the  stage  of  progress  that  the  pupil  has  made.  In  element¬ 
ary  work  the  main  thing  is  the  acquirement  of  facts,  in  ad¬ 
vanced  work  more  attention  is  paid  to  their  organization. 

Sense  of  perspective  and  proportion  directly  involves  the 
truth  of  history.  Any  year  or  period  in  a  man’s  Hfe  must 
be  seen  in  connection  with  his  life  as  a  whole.  The  man 
himself  must  be  viewed  in  his  relations  to  other  men.  And 
so  it  is  with  a  city  or  a  state.  An  age  must  be  treated  as  a 
part  of  the  whole  historical  movement  before  and  after.  If 
these  familiar  rules  are  disregarded,  there  is  no  telling  what 
perversion  and  distortion  will  foUow. 

Desire  to  state  and  point  the  truth  hardly  needs  the  em¬ 
phasis  of  a  single  word.  History  is  moral  knowledge ; 
rightly  handled,  it  is  one  of  our  best  moral  disciplines  and 
guides,  while  the  critical  arguments  adduced  to  settle  dates 
and  places  and  other  facts  lead  to  conscientious  mental  hab¬ 
its,  although  in  a  moral  sense  they  may  be  the  least  weighty 
elements  to  be  considered. 

Ability  to  tell  a  tale  in  a  pleasing  way  is  of  prime  impor¬ 
tance  to  the  teacher  as  well  as  to  the  writer  of  history.  The 
word  “  story  ”  is  “  history  ”  abbreviated.  From  the  days  of 
Herodotus  and  Xenophon  to  the  days  of  Macaulay*  and 
Green,  the  historians  who  have  been  most  read  have  been 


*  A  writer  who  justly  contends  that  Macaulay’s  greatest  power  is  his 
mastery  of  historical  narrative  says :  “  The  interest  of  the  story  as  a  story  is 
kept  up  with  a  profound  and  unsuspected  art.  The  thread  of  the  narrative 
is  never  dropped.  When  transitions  occur — and  no  writer  passes  from  one 
part  of  his  subject  to  another  with  more  boldness  and  freedom — they  are 
managed  with  such  skill  and  ease  that  the  reader  is  unaware  of  them.  A 
turn  of  the  road  has  brought  us  in  view  of  a  new  prospect ;  but  we  are  not 
conscious  for  a  moment  of  having  left  the  road.  The  change  seems  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world.” — Morison :  Macaulay^  Men  of  Letters 
Series. 


THE  TEACHER’S  QUALIFICATIONS. 


141 


those  who  have  best  told  their  tale.  Nowhere  is  style  more 
important.  For  our  purpose  history  that  is  not  interesting 
is  not  history  at  all.  There  is,  indeed,  another  class  of  his¬ 
torians  :  writers  who  criticise  and  argue,  men  like  Stubbs 
and  Freeman  who  have  rendered  invaluable  service  to  the 
cause  of  truth  ;  but  these  writers  are  little  known  save  to 
scholars  and  students.  In  the  university  historical  criticism 
and  discussion  should  be  very  prominent,  in  the  college  and 
secondary  schools  less  prominent ;  while  in  elementary 
work,  no  matter  where  done,  narration  should  monopolize 
the  minds  of  both  pupil  and  teacher. 

The  principal  mental  qualities  required  to  teach  history 
according  to  this  model  are  easily  discovered.  They  are  a 
retentive  memory,  logical  power  to  analyze  and  group  facts, 
enthusiasm  for  the  subject,  sound  judgment,  clear  insight 
into  character  and  life,  devotion  to  truth,  persistence,  vivid 
imagination,  and  a  copious  supply  of  clear  and  simple  lan¬ 
guage.  Only  one  or  two  of  these  qualities  call  for  particu¬ 
lar  comment. 

In  few  studies  is  an  enthusiastic  interest  in  the  subject  so 
necessary  to  the  teacher.  Its  presence  or  absence  will  com¬ 
monly  determine  whether  the  pupil  or  class  finds  the  history 
lesson  a  dull  grind  or  a  pleasant  exercise. 

Historical  insight  depends  intimately  on  human  sympa¬ 
thy.  You  can  not  understand  a  man  unless  you  can  get  at 
his  point  of  view.  You  need  not  embrace  his  opinions  or 
approve  his  actions,  but  you  must  be  able,  at  least  measurably, 
to  think  and  to  feel  with  him.  It  is  because  he  is  richly 
gifted  with  this  power  that  the  great  historian  is  able  to 
transport  us  to  distant  lands  or  remote  ages,  to  surround  us 
with  new  scenery,  and  to  make  us  live  a  life  difierent  from 
our  own.  It  is  partly  owing  to  the  same  cause  that  the  his¬ 
torian  is  so  apt  to  lose  himself  in  his  hero  and  become  an 
apologist. 

We  must  now  sketch  some  of  the  more  important  divi¬ 
sions  of  knowledge  with  which  it  is  desirable  that  the  teacher 
of  history  should  be  acquainted. 


U2 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


First,  mention  may  be  made  of  practical  current  life. 
The  maxims,  “We  reason  from  what  we  know,”  and  “We 
proceed  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,”  nowhere  find  a 
more  direct  application  than  here.  It  is  a  commonplace 
that  the  child’s  political  knowledge  and  training  begin  with 
observing  facts  around  him — the  policeman,  the  magistrate, 
the  school  board,  and  the  town  council.  It  has  been  said 
that  when  Macaulay  “  wants  to  make  you  understand  a 
thing,  he  compares  it  with  that  which  existed  in  his  own 
day.  The  standard  of  the  present  is  always  with  him.” 
Historians  have  often  been  men  of  affairs.  Xenophon  and 
Caesar  were  soldiers,  Polybius  and  Clarendon  statesmen. 
Enlarging  on  this  thought,  Macaulay  says  Sir  James  Mack¬ 
intosh  and  Charles  James  Fox  had  one  eminent  qualifica¬ 
tion  for  writing  history : 

They  had  spoken  history,  acted  history,  lived  history.  The  turns 
of  political  fortune,  the  ebb  and  flow  of  popular  feeling,  the  hidden 
mechanism  by  which  parties  are  moved,  all  these  things  were  the 
subjects  of  their  constant  thought  and  of  their  most  familiar  con¬ 
versation.  Gibbon  has  remarked  that  his  history  is  much  the  better 
for  his  having  been  an  officer  in  the  militia  and  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  The  remark  is  most  just.  We  have  not  the 
smallest  doubt  that  his  campaign,  though  he  never  saw  an  enemy, 
and  his  parliamentary  attendance,  though  he  never  made  a  speech, 
were  of  far  more  use  to  him  than  years  of  retirement  and  study 
would  have  been.  If  the  time  that  he  spent  on  parade,  and  at  mess 
in  Hampshire,  or  on  the  Treasury-bench  and  at  Brookes  during  the 
storms  which  overthrew  Lord  North  and  Lord  Shelburne,  had  been 
passed  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  he  might  have  avoided  some  inac¬ 
curacies  ;  he  might  have  enriched  his  notes  with  a  greater  number 
of  references ;  but  he  never  would  have  produced  so  lively  a  picture 
of  the  court,  the  camp,  and  the  senate  house. 

Professor  Bryce  justly  tells  us  that  the  vivid  sense  of 
reality  which  pervades  Dr.  Freeman’s  books  is  largely  due 
to  the  keen  interest  that  he  took  in  public  affaii*s,  foreign 
even  more  than  domestic.  “  He  was  fond  of  illustrating 
features  of  Roman  history  from  incidents  he  had  witnessed 


THE  TEACHER’S  QUALIFICATIONS. 


143 


in  taking  part  in  local  government  as  a  magistrate,  and  in 
describing  the  relations  of  Hermocrates  and  Athenagoras 
at  Syracuse  he  drew  upon  observations  which,  as  he  told  his 
friends,  he  made  in  watching  the  discussions  of  the  Hebdom¬ 
adal  Council  at  Oxford.”  Dr.  Freeman  himself  attributes 
the  failure  of  some  of  the  German  writers  to  understand  the 
ancient  democracies  to  the  fact  that  they  had  no  first-hand 
knowledge  of  free  institutions. 

On  many  matters  of  historical  learning  an  Englishman — an  Eng¬ 
lishman  on  either  side  of  the  Ocean— is  better  fitted  to  judge  than 
a  German.  A  Swiss  or  a  Norwegian  may  judge  of  the  workings  of 
free  constitutions  in  old  Greece,  in  Italy,  in  any  other  land,  because 
he,  like  the  Englishman,  has  daily  experience  of  their  working  in 
his  own  land.  But  these  things  are  mysteries  to  German  profes¬ 
sors,  because  they  are  mysteries  to  German  statesmen  also.  The 
German  scholar  simply  reads  in  a  book  of  things  which  we  are  al¬ 
ways  looking  at  and  acting  in.  He,  therefore,  utterly  fails  to  under¬ 
stand  many  things  at  Athens,  or  Home,  or  anywhere  else,  which 
come  to  us  like  our  A,  B,  C. 

Mr.  Bancroft  was  an  active  participant  in  public  affairs  ; 
while  Mr.  Parkman  made  ready  for  his  remarkable  delinea¬ 
tions  of  wilderness  life  when  passing  through  the  expe¬ 
riences  that  he  has  recorded  in  The  Oregon  Trail.  The 
fact  is,  no  recluse — no  mere  scholar  toiling  in  his  cabinet — 
although  he  may  heap  up  historical  learning,  can  write  real 
history.  Nor  can  a  person  who  is  out  of  touch  with  current 
life  teach  real  history.  No  doubt  Macaulay’s  method  is  a 
somewhat  dangerous  one  ;  but  for  the  child  there  is  no  other 
method  ;  and  we  must  depend  upon  later  comparison  and 
reflection  to  correct  mistakes.* 


*  Mr.  John  Morley,  discussing  the  relative  value  of  political  preparation 
and  literary  preparation  for  writing  history,  makes  some  remarks  that  are 
equally  pertinent  to  the  teacher : 

“  It  is  indeed  plain  on  the  least  reflection  that  close  contact  with  political 
business,  however  modest  in  its  pretensions,  is  the  best  possible  element  in 


144 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


As  respects  the  advantages  that  arise  from  contact  with 
living  events,  American  teachers  are  peculiarly  favored. 
In  our  democratic  society  all  public  affairs  are  open  to  every 
eye.  There  is  no  country  in  the  world  where  the  teacher 
can  get  closer  to  the  currents  of  public  life. 

Argument  is  not  necessary  to  show  that  the  teacher  of 
history  should  be  a  student  of  the  science  of  government. 
Political  economy  also  and  moral  science  lie  close  at  hand. 

The  relations  of  geography  and  history  have  been  con- 
sidered  in  another  place.  In  addition  to  studying  the  theater 
of  history  in  books  and  maps,  it  is  desirable  that  the  historian 
should  visit  it  in  person.  Thackeray  said  of  Macaulay  :  “  He 
reads  twenty  books  to  write  a  sentence  ;  he  travels  a  hun¬ 
dred  miles  to  make  a  line  of  description.”  Macaulay  himself 
tells  us  that  when  in  Rome  he  went  to  the  Tiber,  to  the  spot 
where  the  old  Pons  Sublicius  stood,  and  looked  about  to  see 
how  his  Horatius,  then  well  advanced,  agreed  with  the  topog¬ 
raphy.  His  biographer  tells  us  that  he  saw  Glencoe  in 
rain  and  in  sunshine  ;  that  he  paid  a  second  visit  to  Killie- 
krankie  ;  that  he  spent  two  full  days  at  Londonderry,  taking 
pains  to  sketch  a  good  plan  of  the  streets,  walking  alone  or 
in  company  four  times  round  the  walls  of  the  city  for  which 
he  was  to  do  what  Thucydides  had  done  for  Platea.  Many 
great  historians  have  been  tireless  students  both  of  geog¬ 
raphy  and  topography. 

It  is  very  true  that  the  average  teacher  of  the  history  of 


the  training  of  any  one  who  aspires  to  understand  and  reproduce  political 
history.  Political  preparation  is  as  necessary  as  literary  preparation. 
There  is  no  necessity  that  the  business  should  be  on  any  majestic  and  im¬ 
perial  scale.  To  be  the  guardian  of  the  poor  in  an  East-End  parish,  to  be 
behind  the  scenes  of  some  great  strike  of  labor,  to  be  an  active  member  of 
the  parliamentary  committee  of  a  Trades  Council  or  of  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee  of  a  Union  or  a  League,  may  be  quite  as  instructive  discipline  as 
participation  in  mightier  scenes.  Those  who  write  concrete  history,  with¬ 
out  ever  having  taken  part  in  practical  politics,  are,  one  might  say,  in  the 
position  of  those  ancients  who  wrote  about  the  human  body  without  ever 
having  effectively  explored  it  by  dissection.” —  Critical  Miscellanies :  France 
in  the  Eighteenth  Centwry, 


THE  TEACHER’S  QUALIFICATIONS. 


145 


the  United  States  will  find  it  impossible  to  visit  in  person  much 
of  the  historic  ground  with  w^hich  he  deals.  But  even  a  few 
spots  well  seen  assist  in  understanding  others  that  have  not 
been  seen.  A  few  days  spent  intelligently  in  the  Lake 
George  region,  on  the  field  of  Gettysburg,  at  Chattanooga, 
or  Atlanta,  will  be  of  permanent  advantage  in  more  ways 
than  one.  Personal  knowledge  of  the  ground  gives  a  won¬ 
derful  sense  of  reality  to  historical  knowledge.  Roman  or 
Grecian  history  is  never  again  the  same  thing  to  a  person 
who  has  made  a  visit  to  Rome  or  Athens.  Professor  Good¬ 
win  says  :  “  I  can  conceive  of  no  better  preparation  for  en¬ 
thusiastic  work  than  to  spend  eight  months  in  the  study  of 
Greece  itself,  in  viewing  her  temples  and  learning  the  secrets 
of  their  architecture,  and  in  studying  geography  and  history 
at  once  by  exploring  her  battlefields,  her  lines  of  communi¬ 
cation  through  the  mountain  passes,  and  the  sites  of  her  fa¬ 
mous  cities.”  And  still  another  has  said  :  “You  can  stand 
on  Mount  Pentelicus  and  study  history  by  the  hour.” 

To  the  teacher  of  ancient  history,  or  of  the  history  of 
modern  Europe,  some  knowledge  of  antiquities  is  indis¬ 
pensable.  Dr.  Freeman  attached  high  value  to  architecture 
as  a  handmaid  of  historical  research.  He  is  said  to  have 
acquired  a  wonderfully  full  and  exact  knowledge  of  the 
most  remarkable  churches  and  castles  in  England,  as  well 
as  considerable  skill  in  sketching  them.  By  the  end  of  his 
life  he  had  accumulated  a  collection  of  thousands  of  draw¬ 
ings,  made  by  himself,  of  notable  buildings  in  France,  Ger¬ 
many,  Italy,  and  Dalmatia,  as  well  as  in  the  British  Islands. 
Painting  and  statuary,  as  well  as  philology,  bear  on  many 
historical  problems.  A  knowledge  of  antiquities  is  valu¬ 
able.  Never  before  has  there  been  so  much  interest  as  now 
in  the  old  Peruvians,  in  the  Aztecs,  in  the  Red  Indians,  and 
in  the  Mound  Builders.  Then  in  dealing  with  these  subjects 
some  knowledge  of  ethnology,  or  the  science  of  races,  is 
necessary. 

Dean  Stanley,  whose  own  historical  writings  derive  a 
vivid  sense  of  reality  from  his  enthusiastic  study  of  geogra- 


146 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


phy,  topography,  and  historical  monuments,  says  in  his  lec¬ 
ture  on  Edward  the  Black  Prince  :  “  Every  one  who  has 
endeavored  to  study  history  must  be  struck  by  the  advan¬ 
tage  which  those  enjoy  who  live  within  the  neighborhood 
of  great  historical  monuments.  To  have  seen  the  place 
where  a  great  event  happened;  to  have  seen  the  picture,  the 
statue,  the  tomb  of  an  illustrious  man,  —is  the  next  thing  to 
being  present  at  the  event  in  person,  to  seeing  the  scene  with 
our  own  eyes.” 

The  introduction  to  the  revised  edition  of  A  Short  His¬ 
tory  of  the  English  People,  written  by  Mrs.  Green  since  her 
husband’s  death,  sheds  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  processes  by 
which  the  mind  of  its  author  was  formed.  It  also  illus¬ 
trates  admirably  the  value  to  the  student  of  history  of 
participation  in  real  active  life,  as  well  as  personal  study 
of  the  historical  localities  and  monuments  that  lie  about 
him. 

John  Richard  Green  was  born  at  Oxford  in  1837,  and 
when  eight  years  old  was  sent  to  Magdalen  Grammar 
School,  then  held  in  a  small  room  within  the  precincts  of  the 
college. 

The  Oxford  world  about  him  was  full  of  suggestions  of  a  past 
which  very  early  startled  his  curiosity  and  fired  his  imagination. 
The  gossiping  tales  of  an  old  dame  who  had  seen  George  III  drive 
through  the  town  in  a  coach  and  six,  were  his  first  lessons  in  history. 
Year  after  year  he  took  part  with  excited  fancy  in  the  procession 
of  the  Magdalen  choir  boys  to  the  College  tower  on  May  Day,  to 
sing  at  the  sun-rising  a  hymn  to  the  Trinity,  which  had  replaced  the 
mass  chanted  in  pre-Reformation  days,  and  to  “jangle”  the  bells  in 
recognition  of  an  immemorial  festival.  St.  Giles’s  fair,  the  “  beating 
of  the  bounds,”  even  the  name  of  “  Pennyfarthing  Street,”  were  no 
less  records  of  a  mysterious  past  than  chapel  or  college  or  the  very 
trees  of  Magdalen  Walk ;  and  he  once  received,  breathless  and  awe¬ 
struck,  a  prize  from  the  hands  of  J;he  centenarian  president  of  the 
college,  Dr.  Routh,  the  last  man  who  ever  wore  a  wig  in  Oxford,  a 
man  who  had  himself  seen  Dr. 'Johnson  stand  in  the  High  Street 
with  one  foot  on  either  side  of  the  kennel  that  ran  down  the  middle 


THE  TEACHER’S  QUALIFICATIONS.  147 

of  the  way,  the  street  boys  standing  round,  “  none  daring  to  inter¬ 
rupt  the  meditations  of  the  great  lexicographer.”  .  .  . 

His  curiosity  soon  carried  him  beyond  Oxford ;  and  in  very  early 
days  he  learned  to  wander  on  saints’  days  and  holidays  to  the 
churches  of  neighboring  villages,  and  there  shut  himself  in  to  rub 
brasses  and  study  architectural  moldings. 

At  sixteen  he  read  Gibbon,  and  from  that  moment  the 
enthusiasm  of  history  took  hold  of  him. 

His  first  historical  efforts  were  spent  on  that  which  lay  immedi¬ 
ately  about  him ;  and  the  series  of  papers  which  he  sent  at  the  same 
time  to  the  Oxford  Chronicle,  on  Oxford  in  the  Last  Century,  are 
instinct  with  all  the  vivid  imagination  of  his  later  work,  and  tell 
their  tale  after  a  method  and  in  a  style  which  was  already  perfectly 
natural  to  him.  He  read  enormously,  but  history  was  never  to  him 
wholly  a  matter  of  books.  The  town  was  still  his  teacher.  .  .  .  He 
has  left  an  amusing  account  of  how,  on  a  solemn  day  which  came 
about  once  in  eight  years,  he  marched  with  mayor  and  corporation 
round  the  city  boundaries.  He  lingered  over  the  memory  of  St. 
Martin’s  Church,  the  center  of  the  town  life,  the  folk-mote  within 
its  walls,  the  low  shed  outside  where  mayor  and  bailiff  administered 
justice,  the  bell  above  which  rang  out  its  answer  to  the  tocsin  of  the 
gownsmen  in  St.  Mary’s,  the  butchery  and  spicery  and  vintnery 
which  clustered  round  in  the  narrow  streets.  “  In  a  walk  through 
Oxford  one  may  find  illustrations  of  every  period  of  our  annals. 
The  cathedral  still  preserves  the  memory  of  the  Mercian  St.  Frides- 
wide ;  the  tower  of  the  Norman  Earls  frowns  down  on  the  waters 
of  the  Mill ;  around  Merton  hang  the  memories  of  the  birth  of  our 
Constitution ;  the  New  Learning  and  the  Reformation  mingle  in 
Christ  Church ;  a  grind  along  the  Marston  road  follows  the  track 
of  the  army  of  Fairfax ;  the  groves  of  Magdalen  preserve  the  liv¬ 
ing  traditions  of  the  last  of  the  Stuarts.” 

And  later,  when  he  had  left  Oxford  to  enter  on  the  work 
of  a  curate  in  one  of  the  poorest  parishes  of  East  London, 
Mr.  Green  still  continued  his  studies.  Here  he  made  what 
most  men  would  have  thought  inconveniences,  and  even 
obstacles,  help  him  on  his  way.  Touching  in  1869  on  the 
causes  of  the  unpopularity  of  English  history,  he  wrote  : 


148 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


There  is  hardly  a  better  corrective  for  all  this  to  be  found  than 
to  set  a  man  frankly  in  the  streets  of  a  simple  English  town,  and  to 
bid  him  work  out  the  history  of  the  men  who  have  lived  and  died 
there.  The  mill  by  the  stream,  the  tolls  of  the  market  place,  the 
brasses  of  its  burghers  in  the  church,  the  names  of  its  streets,  the 
lingering  memory  of  its  guilds,  the  mace  of  its  mayor,  tell  us  more 
of  the  past  of  England  than  the  spire  of  Sarum  or  the  martyrdom 
of  Canterbury. 

This  final  extract  bears  still  more  closely  on  the  histo¬ 
rian’s  need  of  personal  participation  in  real  life,  especially 
if  he  essays  the  history  of  a  people. 

To  the  last  he  looked  on  his  London  life  as  having  given  him  his 
best  lessons  in  history.  It  was  with  his  church  wardens,  his  school¬ 
masters,  in  vestry  meetings,  in  police  courts,  at  boards  of  guardians, 
in  service  in  chapel  or  church,  in  the  daily  life  of  the  dock-laborer, 
the  tradesman,  the  costermonger,  in  the  summer  visitation  of  chol¬ 
era,  in  the  winter  misery  that  followed  economic  changes,  that  he 
learned  what  the  life  of  the  people  meant  as  perhaps  no  historian 
had  ever  learned  it  before.  Every  drive,  every  railway  journey, 
every  town  he  passed  through  in  brief  excursions  for  health’s  sake, 
added  something  to  his  knowledge. 


Of  course  Mr.  Green  studied  historical  documents  pro¬ 
foundly,  but  he  never  could  have  used  the  materials  gathered 
by  such  study  as  he  did  use  them  had  it  not  been  for  the 
deep  insight  into  the  life  of  the  people  that  he  had  gained 
by  personal  experience. 

It  must  be  frankly  admitted  that  there  is  no  city  on  this 
side  of  the  ocean  that  can  compare  with  Oxford  as  a  center 
of  historical  interest.  No  city  of  ours  has  the  mediaeval 
architecture,  the  memorable  localities,  the  venerable  cere¬ 
monies  and  commemorations,  the  historical  associations 
reaching  back  a  thousand  years,  the  edifices,  pictures,  and 
monuments  that  make  so  much  of  the  interest  and  charm 
of  Oxford.  The  same  may  be  said  of  our  country  as  a 
whole.  In  England  you  are  never  out  of  sight  of  some 
interesting  village,  city,  or  battlefield  ;  some  hall,  castle, 


THE  TExVCHER’S  QUALIFICATIONS. 


149 


church,  or  cemetery,  college  or  chapel,  famous  in  history, 
poetry,  or  song  ;  some  hill,  mountain,  or  heath  invested  with 
tale  or  legend  ;  some  spot  forever  identified  with  a  man  up- 
mem  bered  in  war  or  statesmanship,  letters  or  patriotism, 
science  or  religion  ;  some  shrine  to  which  the  feet  of  Eng¬ 
lish-speaking  men  turn  from  all  over  the  world.  It  is  only 
the  older  parts  of  our  country  that  can  show  even  a  blush 
of  interest  like  this.  Faneuil  Hall  and  the  State  House  in 
Philadelphia  are  invested  with  associations  dear  to  Ameri¬ 
cans  ;  but  these  associations  are  too  young,  even  if  there 
were  no  other  reasons,  to  permit  these  places  being  equalized 
with  Runnymede  and  Westminster.  Since  it  is  only  in  in¬ 
ferior  minds  that  familiarity  breeds  contempt,  the  quick- 
minded  student  can  not  fail  to  find  advantages  in  England, 
and  in  old  countries  generally,  that  are  denied  in  a  new  and 
immature  country  like  our  own.  It  is  not  due  alone  to  the 
fact  that  our  old  States  have  hitherto  held  the  colleges  and 
libraries,  the  wealth,  and  the  men  of  leisure,  so  essential  to 
the  production  of  great  historical  works,  that  our  Bancrofts, 
Irvings,  Prescotts,  Motleys,  and  Parkmans  have  belonged  to 
them  ;  the  inspiration  and  enthusiasm  of  history  belong  to 
historical  societies. 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  American  teachers  are 
shut  up  to  books  and  libraries.  Young  as  our  country  is,  it  has 
a  history,  and  every  year  is  adding  the  charm  that  only  time 
can  furnish.  We  may  be  poor  in  legend  and  in  ballad,  in 
chronicle  and  story,  in  poetry  and  romance,  as  compared 
with  England,  Scotland,  or  Switzerland  ;  but  we  have  made 
a  beginning,  and  these  rich  elements  will  grow.  The  an¬ 
nals  of  Indian  warfare,  whether  they  relate  to  the  first  plant¬ 
ing  of  civilization  on  these  Western  shores,  or  to  the  still 
longer  and  more  fiercely  contested  struggle  by  which  the 
Great  W est  was  wrested  from  savage  men,  contain  sources  of 
interest  that  Europe  can  not  match  ;  the  leading  events  of  the 
Revolution  are  fast  taking  their  place  with  the  great  events 
that  led  to  the  final  establishment  of  liberty  in  England  ; 
while  the  Civil  War,  the  whole  world  has  already  come  to 


150 


UOW  TO  STUDy  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


see,  was  necessary  to  the  destruction  of  slavery  and  the  uni¬ 
fication  of  the  Republic.  The  extraordinary  growth  of  his¬ 
torical  studies  in  our  country  since  the  War  is  partly  due  to 
causes  that  have  operated  in  other  countries  ;  partly  to  the 
lessons  of  the  War,  which  turned  us  back  to  its  causes  and 
the  nature  and  development  of  political  institutions  ;  partly 
to  the  fact  that  we  now  have  vastly  more  history  to  study, 
and  are  compelled  to  read  much  of  the  old  history  in  a 
new  light.  The  main  fact  is  that  there  are  numerous 
places,  scattered  over  our  land,  where  the  historical  spirit 
may  feed  its  fires.  These  will  gain  in  interest  as  time  goes 
on.  Writing  of  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  opposite 
Washington,  in  1862,  Hawthorne  said: 

The  fortifications  so  numerous  in  all  this  region,  and  now  so 
unsightly  with  their  bare  precipitous  sides,  will  remain  as  historic 
monuments,  grass-grown  and  picturesque  memorials  of  an  epoch  of 
terror  and  suffering :  they  will  serve  to  make  our  country  nearer, 
dearer,  and  more  interesting  to  us,  and  afford  fit  soil  for  poetry  to 
root  itself  in  ;  for  this  is  a  plant  which  thrives  best  in  spots  where 
blood  has  been  spilled  long  ago,  and  grows  in  abundant  clusters 
in  old  ditches,  such  as  the  moat  around  Fort  Ellsworth  will  be  a 
century  hence.  It  may  seem  to  be  paying  dear  for  what  many  will 
reckon  but  a  worthless  weed ;  but  the  more  historical  associations 
we  can  link  with  our  localities,  the  richer  will  be  the  daily  life  that 
feeds  upon  the  past,  and  the  more  valuable  the  things  that  have 
been  long  established.* 

The  near  past  that  bounds  our  view — our  very  youth — 
has  a  compensating  advantage.  Our  history  lies  in  the 
open  day.  The  fact  that  we  have  few  unsolvable  problems 
may  blunt  the  edge  of  curiosity,  but  it  affords  a  greater 
probability  of  ascertaining  the  truth.  That  our  country 
offers  to  the  scholars  of  the  world  the  only  example  of  a 
large  group  of  independent  colonies,  planted  and  developed 
under  new  and  strange  conditions,  attaining  the  propor¬ 
tions  of  vigorous  commonwealths,  then  asserting  their  in- 


*  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  x,  p.  49. 


THE  TEACHER’S  QUALIFICATIONS. 


151 


dependence  and  forming  an  indissoluble  Union,  afterward 
attaining  under  a  free  constitution  a  foremost  place  among 
tbe  nations  of  the  earth — every  step  of  the  whole  evolution 
lying  in  the  clear  sunlight  of  knowledge — is  a  fact  which 
these  scholars  are  sure  to  appreciate  more  and  more  as  time 
goes  on.  Witness  the  monumental  works  of  Dr.  Von  Holst 
and  Professor  Bryce. 

The  value  of  wide  acquaintance  with  general  literature 
to  the  teacher  can  not  well  be  overestimated.  Such  ac¬ 
quaintance  not  only  yields  anecdotes,  incidents,  and  tales 
that  fail  to  find  their  way  into  formal  history,  but  they 
show  us  a  multitude  of  facts  after  they  have  been  touched 
by  the  imagination  of  the  poet  or  the  novelist.  Here  are 
inexhaustible  materials  for  illustration.  No  person  could 
properly  teach  the  history  of  England  and  Scotland  to  a 
child,  unless  he  knew  something  of  the  old  minstrelsy.  In 
the  same  field  Scott’s  novels  are  indispensable.  In  our  own 
country  such  materials  do  not  exist  in  equal  abundance, 
owing  to  our  youth  ;  but  Hawthorne,  Longfellow,  Lowell, 
and  Cooper  are  only  less  important  to  the  teacher  than 
Parkman,  Fiske,  and  Bancroft. 

In  the  short  preface  to  his  compilation  of  Poems  of 
Places,  Longfellow  writes  a  paragraph  about  travel  that, 
with  slight  change  in  the  wording,  is  just  as  applicable  to 
history. 

I  have  always  found  the  poets  my  best  traveling  companions. 
They  see  many  things  that  are  invisible  to  common  eyes.  Like 
Orlando  in  the  forest  of  Arden,  “  they  hang  odes  on  hawthorns  and 
elegies  on  thistles.”  They  invest  the  landscape  with  a  human  feel¬ 
ing,  and  cast  upon  it 

“  The  light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land. 

The  consecration  and  the  poet’s  dream.” 

Even  scenes  unlovely  in  themselves  become  clothed  in  beauty  when 
illuminated  by  the  imagination,  as  faces  in  themselves  not  beautiful 
become  so  by  the  expression  of  thought  and  feeling. 

The  most  important  topic  has  been  reserved  to  the  last — a 
knowledge  of  history  itseK.  Perhaps  there  is  reason  to  fear 


152 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


that  the  normal  schools  and  the  institutes  are  leading  some 
teachers  to  think  that  the  first  requisite  is  not  knowledge, 
hut  methods.  No  greater  mistake  could  possibly  be  made. 
Methods  can  not  be  understood  until  subject-matter  has  been 
mastered,  and,  even  if  they  could  be,  they  would  prove  empty 
and  useless.  Although  it  was  maintained  by  both  Jacotot 
and  Pestalozzi,  the  most  monstrous  error  in  the  history  of 
pedagogy  is  the  dogma  that  a  man  can  teach  what  he  does 
not  know.  Even  more  than  in  some  other  subjects  ample 
knowledge  is  necessary  to  the  best  results  in  this  field. 
Without  it  the  insight,  the  interest,  and  the  enthusiasm  so 
necessary  to  success  are  impossible. 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  standard  of  qualification  has 
been  placed  high,  at  least  for  teachers  in  elementary  and 
.secondary  schools.  But  it  is  none  too  high  for  an  ideal. 
The  time  has  gone  by  when  persons  having  no  knowledge 
of  auxiliary  subjects,  or  even  of  the  main  subject  save  what 
they  have  gleaned  from  the  text-book  in  the  hands  of  their 
own  pupils,  or  a  similar  one,  should  be  tolerated  in  schools 
as  teachers  of  history.  Moreover,  the  earnest  teacher  of 
good  abilities  can  qualify  himself  in  all  the  subjects  that 
have  been  named,  even  if  his  own  school  preparation  did 
not  include  them.  He  can  not,  indeed,  provide  himself  with 
a  new  mind,  but  he  can  accomplish  much  the  same  thing 
by  stimulating  and  developing  those  powers  that  are  more 
-directly  enlisted  in  studying  and  in  teaching  the  subject. 

It  is  a  pregnant  saying  of  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold’s:  “A 
Professor  of  History,  if  I  understand  his  duties  rightly,  has 
two  principal  objects  :  he  must  try  to  acquaint  his  hearers 
with  the  nature  and  value  of  the  treasure  for  which  they 
are  searching  ;  and,  secondly,  he  must  try  to  show  them 
the  best  and  speediest  method  of  discovering  and  abstract¬ 
ring  it.” 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD. 

References :  History  of  Ancient  Geography;  Free¬ 
man  :  The  Historical  Geography  of  Europe,  Text  and  Maps,  Methods 
of  Studying  History,  Geography  and  Travel,  General  Sketch  of 
History;  Dr.  W.  Smith:  Dictionaries  of  Greek  and  Roman  Geog¬ 
raphy,  and  of  the  Bible ;  Bryce :  The  Holy  Roman  Empire,  Appen¬ 
dix  D ;  Green :  A  Short  History  of  the  English  People,  The  Making 
of  England;  Ransome:  Elementary  History  of  England;  Taylor: 
Names  and  Places;  Putzger:  Historischer  Schul- Atlas ;  Keith  John¬ 
ston:  Physical,  Historical,  Political,  and  Descriptive  Geography; 
Gardiner :  A  School  Atlas  of  English  History. 

Dr.  Freeman  observes  that  geography  in  its  bearing  on 
history  has  two  meanings  or  aspects,  which  tend  to  run  into 
one  another  and  yet  are  purely  distinct.  One  aspect  is 
knowledge  which  may  be  acquired  by  the  study  of  books 
and  maps  ;  the  other,  knowledge  that  is  acquired  by  means 
of  travel,  by  actuaUy  seeing  things  with  our  own  eyes.  His¬ 
torical  geography  corresponds  to  the  first  of  these  forms  of 
knowledge,  and  has  to  do  with  the  political  divisions  of  the 
earth  at  different  times. 

“  It  comes,”  he  says,  “  very  largely  to  be  a  matter  of  no¬ 
menclature  ;  what  is  the  meaning  of  such  and  such  a  geo¬ 
graphical  name  at  such  and  such  a  time.”  Three  questions 
may  arise :  1.  “  Did  it  mean  the  same  extent  of  the  surface  of 
the  earth  which  it  means  now  ?  ”  2.  “  Did  it  reach  farther 
than  it  does  now,  or  not  so  far  ?  ”  3.  ‘‘  Or  did  it,  as  some¬ 
times  happens,  mean  some  other  part  of  the  earth  from  what 
it  means  now — some  part  which  may  not  have  an  inch  of 
12 


154 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


ground  in  common  with  the  land  to  which  the  name  is  now 
commonly  given  ?  ”  Questions  also  arise  as  to  the  original 
meanings  of  names.  Accordingly,  he  defines  historical  ge¬ 
ography  as  the  knowledge  of  the  names  which  different 
parts  of  the  earth’s  surface  have  borne  at  different  times,  in¬ 
cluding  their  origin  and  signification.  How  important 
accurate  knowledge  of  this  kind  is,  as  well  as  how  diffi¬ 
cult  to  obtain,  this  chapter  and  the  following  one  will  illus¬ 
trate. 

First,  we  may  consider  the  three  continents  of  the  Old 
*  World  and  their  names.  Necessarily,  the  names  could  not 
be  used  in  a  continental  signification  until  the  distinctness 
of  the  continents  themselves  was  recognized ;  and  this,  for 
reasons  that  are  here  immaterial,  was  but  slowly  effected. 

While  Homer  was  acquainted  with  parts  of  all  these  con¬ 
tinents,  he  had  no  idea  of  their  distinctness  and  unity  ;  and 
even  Herodotus,  who  uses  the  divisions  and  the  names,  be¬ 
cause  they  were  sanctioned  by  custom,  thought  them  un¬ 
reasonable  and  without  good  foundation.  Sometimes  the 
Nile  was  regarded  as  the  boundary  between  Asia  and  Africa. 
Nor  was  there  in  antiquity  any  universally  recognized 
boundary  between  Asia  and  Europe.  The  majority  fol¬ 
lowed  Hecataeus  in  making  it  the  Tanais,  or  the  Don,  but 
some  followed  Herodotus,  who  made  it  the  Phasis,  now 
known  as  the  Faz  or  Rioni.  Even  in  our  own  times  this 
boundary  is  not  fixed  beyond  dispute,  some  geographers 
making  it  the  Don  and  some  the  Volga.  But  the  different 
senses  attributed  to  the  names  arising  from  special  uses  and 
from  limited  information  are  far  more  confusing  than  those 
originating  in  disputes  about  boundaries.  Every  one  of  the 
three  names  appears  to  have  been  used  first  in  a  merely  lo¬ 
cal  sense,  and  afterward  to  have  been  expanded  with  the 
progress  of  geographical  knowledge. 

Asia  is  used  in  history  in  several  distinct  senses.  It  is 
probable  that  the  first  Asia  was  the  plain  of  Lydia,  or  possi¬ 
bly  even  the  meadow  of  the  river  Cayster,  and  that  it  was 
successively  applied  to  the  whole  peninsula  of  which  Lydia 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD.  155 

formed  a  part,  to  the  parts  of  the  continent  abutting*  on  the 
Mediterranean,  and  finally  to  the  continent.  The  name  Asia 
Minor  first  appears  in  the  fifth  century  A.  D.,  and  its  appear¬ 
ance  marks  the  need  of  a  special  name  for  the  peninsula,  in 
order  to  separate  it  from  the  continent,  or  from  Upper  Asia, 
as  the  region  beyond  the  Taurus  was  called.  Asia  is  some¬ 
times  named  the  kingdom  of  Troy,  sometimes  the  kingdom 
of  Pergamus,  and  sometimes  Proconsular  or  Roman  Asia. 
How  confusing  these  Asias  are  is  shown  by  familiar  pas¬ 
sages  in  the  book  of  Acts.  St.  Paul,  being  already  in  Asia, 
and  in  Asia  Minor,  is  forbidden  “to  preach  the  word  in 
Asia,”  and  at  Ephesus  is  advised  by  “  certain  of  the  chief  of 
Asia,  which  were  his  friends,”  etc.  (chaps,  xvi,  6 ;  xix,  31). 
The  Asia  of  these  passages  is  the  one  last  mentioned  in  the 
above  enumeration. 

The  Greeks  called  the  second  of  the  great  continents,  ex¬ 
clusive  of  Egypt,  Libya,  and  the  Romans  borrowed  the 
name  from  them.  The  Carthaginians  called  their  own  re¬ 
gion,  and  perhaps  the  continent  so  far  as  they  knew  it,  Afric 
or  Africus,  and  the  name  passed  from  them  to  their  conquer¬ 
ors.  The  Romans  at  first  applied  it  to  the  Carthaginian 
territory,  and  later  to  Proconsular  or  Roman  Africa,  which 
was  of  different  extents  at  different  times.  Still  later 
Africa  took  the  place  of  Libya,  including  Egypt  as  well, 
while  Libya  disappeared  from  the  map. 

Perhaps  the  name  of  the  third  continent  is  of  more  un¬ 
certain  origin  than  either  of  the  others.  One  theory  is  that 
Europe  means  “  Broad  Land,”  and  that  the  Asiatic  Greeks 
gave  the  name*  to  the  extended  coast  of  Thrace  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  islands  of  the  JEgean  Sea  and  the  Peloponnesus. 
However  this  may  be,  the  name  was  used  in  a  continental 
sense  from  the  time  that  the  geographical  unity  of  Europe 
was  recognized,  and  is  therefore  free  from  uncertainties  like 
those  attending  Asia  and  Africa. 

Before  going  farther  it  will  be  well  to  distinguish  be¬ 
tween  geographical  and  political  names.  Dr.  Freeman  de¬ 
fines  the  first  as  “  a  name  meaning  a  certain  part  of  the 


15G 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


earth’s  surface,  marked  out  by  boundaries  which  can  not 
well  be  changed” ;  the  second  as  ‘‘simply  meaning  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  country  which  is  occupied  at  any  time  by  a  particu¬ 
lar  nation,  and  whose  boundaries  may  be  easily  changed.” 
Britain  is  an  example  of  a  geographical  name;  England, 
Wales,  and  Scotland  are  examples  of  political  names.  Spain 
falls  into  the  first  class ;  Castile,  Aragon,  and  Portugal  into 
the  second.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Gaul  and  France. 
Sometimes  the  same  name  is  both  geographical  and  polit¬ 
ical,  and  in  precisely  the  same  sense ;  but  such  cases  are  less 
■  frequent  than  we  might  antecedently  expect. 

Few  names  are  more  curious  and  instructive  than  Greece 
and  Greek.  The  people  whom  we  know  as  Greeks  called 
themselves  Hellenes,  and  their  country  Hellas.  At  first 
the  Hellenes  were  but  a  single  tribe  occupying  a  small  dis¬ 
trict  in  Thessaly.  The  southern  part  of  the  easternmost 
of  the  three  Mediterranean  peninsulas  was,  however,  occu¬ 
pied  by  a  group  of  affiliated  tribes  or  peoples.  It  was  always 
understood  that  Hellas  was  the  country  of  the  Hellenes  ; 
and  as  the  original  tribes  and  states  came  more  and  more 
to  recognize  and  to  value  their  relationships,  and  as  they  be¬ 
came  better  known  to  the  outside  world,  the  names  Hellenes 
and  Hellas  were  progressively  expanded.  The  geographical 
unity  of  the  country,  as  well  as  the  commercial  and  political 
relations  of  the  people,  worked  strongly  in  the  direction 
of  unity.  At  one  time  Hellas  extended  only  to  the  Co¬ 
rinthian  Gulf  on  the  south  and  to  the  Ambracian  Gulf  on 
the  north ;  later,  Peloponnesus  and  Macedonia  were  included 
within  its  boundaries.  Nor  is  this  all  ;  the  Hellenes  were  a 
commercial  and  a  colonizing  people,  and,  in  the  largest 
sense  of  the  term,  all  their  colonies  and  outposts  were  in 
Hellas,  whether  on  the  Hellespont,  the  Euxine,  or  African 
coast,  whether  in  Spain,  Gaul,  Italy,  or  the  Islands  of 
the  Sea.  Still,  the  two  names  were  not  employed  in  a  gen¬ 
eral  sense  until  after  the  time  of  Homer  ;  he  calls  the 
motley  host  that  sailed  to  Troy  by  a  number  of  different 
names,  but  never  Hellenes.  Even  after  the  names  became 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD.  157 


common  there  were  numerous  controversies  as  to  what 
tribes  were  and  what  were  not  Hellenes.  These  controver¬ 
sies,  into  which  political  factors  entered  very  deeply,  make 
the  definition  of  the  Grecian  boundaries  at  all  times  difficult. 
Finally  the  Romans  became  acquainted  with  a  small  tribe 
called  Graeci,  living  on  the  coast  of  Epirus,  who  were  per¬ 
haps  not  Hellenes  at  all,  and  they  gave  the  name  of  this 
tribe  to  the  whole  country  and  people  of  the  peninsula,  thus 
settling  the  usage.  While  Greece  was  never  used  in  as 
broad  a  sense  as  Hellas,  lower  Italy,  which  became  thor¬ 
oughly  Graecized,  was  known  as  Greater  Greece.  The  pres¬ 
ent  kingdom  of  Greece,  still  called  Hellas,  founded  in  1833, 
embraces  but  a  small  part  of  ancient  Greece. 

We  first  meet  the  name  Italy  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
second  Mediterranean  peninsula.  The  Romans,  the  master¬ 
ful  people  who  expanded  the  name,  although  of  the  Italian 
stock,  did  not  live  in  the  original  Italy  at  all.  In  the  time 
of  Julius  Caesar  Italy  extended  north  only  to  the  Rubicon, 
and  it  was  Augustus  who  first  made  it  include  the  valley  of 
the  Po  and  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Alps.  At  a  later  time 
the  name  was  limited  to  the  northern  part  of  the  peninsula, 
and  Milan  became  the  capital.  On  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Frankish  Empire  a  kingdom  of  Italy  was  formed  in  the 
north,  Charles  V  being  the  last  monarch  to  wear  its  iron 
crown,  and  a  second  but  short-lived  kingdom  of  the  same 
name  was  created  by  Bonaparte  in  1805.  For  a  long  time 
the  name  was  without  political  significance,  being,  as  was 
said,  “a  mere  geographical  designation.”  Such,  in  fact, 
it  continued  to  be  until  the  formation  of  the  present  king¬ 
dom  of  Italy,  which,  however,  does  not  include  the  whole 
peninsula  or  all  the  Italians.  To  say  nothing  of  San  Marino, 
considerable  parts  of  Italy  still  belong  to  Austria.  The 
necessity  of  keeping  the  meaning  of  names  in  mind  in 
reading  history  is  well  illustrated  by  the  account  of  Caesar’s 
passing  the  Rubicon  with  his  army  in  defiance  of  the  Senate. 
This  river,  which  fiows  into  the  Adriatic  south  of  the  Po 
valley,  was  part  of  the  boundary  between  the  province  of 


158 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Gaul,  which  Caesar  governed,  and  the  Italy  of  his  day,  which 
the  Senate  itself  governed. 

The  original  Romans  were  the  people  of  Rome,  the  town 
by  the  river  Tiber  ;  but  step  by  step  the  name  as  well  as 
the  rights  of  the  Romans  were  conferred  upon  all  the  tribes 
and  nationalities  comprehended  in  the  most  imposing  polit¬ 
ical  structure  that  the  world  has  seen — the  Roman  Empire. 
After  the  division  of  the  empire,  Roman  was  never  used  in 
the  West  as  a  general  name  either  of  the  land  or  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,  although  it  lived  on  as  a  part  of  the  name  of  the  empire 
itself.  Nor  is  the  name  used  in  Italy  to-day  save  as  applying 
to  the  city  and  to  the  district  called  the  Romagna  ;  but  in 
the  East  its  use  with  a  general  significance  took  deep  root. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  Eastern  Empire  knew  themselves  as 
Romans  to  the  very  end,  and  the  land  gradually  came  to 
be  called  Roumania.  The  potent  name  made  a  deep  im¬ 
pression  upon  the  Asiatic  barbarians  who  overthrew  that 
empire ;  when  the  Seljook  Turks  overran  Asia  Minor  their 
leaders  assumed  the  title  Sultans  of  Roum.  Roumania  and 
Roumelia,  inhabited  mainly  by  people  who  speak  a  language 
descended  from  the  Latin,  and  who  are  themselves  supposed 
to  be  descended  from  the  colonists  whom  Trajan  established 
in  Dacia,  are  memorials  of  the  strong  impression  that  the 
Roman  power  and  name  made  upon  the  East.  Strangely 
enough,  the  name  of  a  people  whose  great  qualities  were 
political  and  military  is  now  most  widely  used  in  a  strictly 
religious  signification. 

.  In  the  widest  sense  Gaul  was  the  land  of  the  Gauls,  or 
Celts,  as  Hellas  was  the  land  of  the  Hellenes.  In  early  Ro¬ 
man  times,  however,  the  name  was  used  in  a  much  narrower 
sense.  The  country  so  named  was  divided  into  Cisalpine 
and  Transalpine  Gaul — or  Gaul  on  this  side  and  Gaul  on 
that  side  of  the  Alps,  speaking  from  the  standpoint  of 
Rome.  The  first  was  incorporated  into  Italy  by  Augustus. 
The  Gaul  that  Caesar  describes  as  divided  into  three  parts, 
much  of  which  he  conquered,  extended  from  the  Pyre¬ 
nees,  the  Atlantic,  and  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Channel 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD.  159 


and  the  North  Sea,  exclusive  of  Provence,  which  had  been 
subdued  in  earlier  times.  This  country  is  the  Gaul  of  the 
Imperial  Period. 

When  we  obtain  our  first  glimpse  of  Central  Europe  it  is 
occupied  by  a  group  of  affiliated  nations  or  tribes  calling 
themselves  Deutsch — that  is,  the  people  or  the  nation,  and 
whose  descendants,  living  in  the  same  country,  still  call 
themselves  by  the  same  name.  The  derivative  “Dutch,” 
however,  is  strictly  limited  to  the  people  of  the  Netherlands. 
English-speaking  men  call  the  Deutsch  Germans  and  Teu¬ 
tons,  and  their  country  Germany,  borrowing  the  names 
from  the  Romans.  Where  the  Romans  obtained  them  is 
a  matter  of  controversy,  but  Teuton  was  the  name  of  a 
Germanic  tribe  with  which  the  Romans  were  brought  into 
contact,  and  which  they  used  in  a  generic  sense.  Broadly 
speaking,  Germany,  or  Deutschland,  is  the  native  country 
of  the  Germans,  or  the  Deutsch  ;  but  its  ethnological,  geo¬ 
graphical,  and  political  limits  have  materially  varied  at  dif¬ 
ferent  times,  and,  in  fact  the  three  significations  of  the  word 
have  never  fully  coincided,  at  least  in  modern  times.  The 
principal  political  phases  of  Germany  may  be  thus  particu¬ 
larized  : 

1.  The  Germany  of  Caesar  and  Tacitus,  consisting  of  a 
large  number  of  independent  tribes  and  groups  of  tribes 
without  cohesion  or  unity.  In  this  period  the  Germans 
are  crowding  outward,  and  they  soon  overflow  in  all  direc¬ 
tions. 

2.  Carolingian  Germany,  the  empire  of  the  Carlings. 
The  Franks,  who  were  one  of  the  largest  divisions  of  the 
Germans,  crossed  the  Rhine  in  the  fifth  century,  under  Clo¬ 
vis,  and  established  themselves  in  Gaul.  Their  power  cul¬ 
minated  when  Charlemagne,  their  king,  having  gained  the 
mastery  of  nearly  all  Gaul  and  part  of  Spain,  of  Germany 
and  Northern  Italy,  was  crowned  Emperor  at  Rome.  Fran- 
cia,  which  in  this  period  was  the  proper  country  of  the 
Franks,  embraced  the  major  parts  of  Gaul  and  Germany. 

3.  The  German  kingdom.  Soon  after  the  death  of 


160 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Charlemagne,  which  occurred  in  814,  his  empire  broke  up. 
East  Francia,  the  country  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe, 
and  West  Francia  now  fell  apart  and  were  never  reunited. 
In  East  Francia  there  grew  up  the  German  kingdom,  the 
real  greatness  of  which  dates  from  Otto  the  Great,  crowned 
in  936.  This  kingdom,  called  also  the  German  Empire, 
passed  through  many  changes  and  stood  in  important  rela¬ 
tions  to  all  the  powers  of  W estern  Europe.  The  German  kings 
wore,  or  were  entitled  to  wear,  four  crowns — the  royal  crowns 
of  Germany,  Burgundy,  and  Italy,  and  the  imperial  crown  of 
Rome.  Charles  V  was  the  last  monarch  who  was  actually 
crowned  Roman  Emperor.  The  kingdom  was  a  confederacy, 
the  head  of  which  was  originally  elected  by  the  German 
princes  coUectively,  but  afterward  by  a  certain  fixed  number 
of  them,  called  electors.  Still,  the  crown  tended  to  become 
hereditary  in  some  great  reigning  family  that  could  bring  to 
the  ofldce  strength  in  exchange  for  dignity  and  a  great  title. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  Burgundy  and  Italy 
were  not  parts  of  Germany,  but  were  rather  foreign  domin¬ 
ions  of  the  German  kings  until  they  fell  away  from  his 
grasp.  The  Empire,  and  the  Grerman  kingdom,  came  to  an 
end  in  1806  in  consequence  of  the  Napoleonic  wars.  Francis 
II  then  renounced  the  imperial  crown  and  assumed  the  new 
title  of  Emperor  of  Austria. 

Here  it  may  be  observed  that  European  history,  and  es¬ 
pecially  in  mediaeval  times,  can  not  be  understood  without  a 
clear  and  firm  grasp  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  the  name 
by  which  the  imperial  dominions  of  the  kings  or  emperors 
were  known.  Often,  however,  it  was  called  merely  The 
Empire. 

4.  The  German  Confederation.  This  was  a  loose  federal 
union  formed  of  all  the  proper  German  states  in  1815.  The 
kings  of  England,  the  Netherlands,  and  Denmark  were 
members  of  the  body  for  their  German  dominions,  as  the 
King  of  England  for  Hanover.  The  Emperor  of  Austria 
was  the  hereditary  president  of  the  diet,  representation  in 
which  was  regulated  by  fixed  agreement.  Austria  and 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD.  101 


Prussia  were  the  leading  members  of  the  confederacy,  and 
their  rivalry  finally  destroyed  it. 

5.  The  German  Empire.  In  1866  the  German  Confedera¬ 
tion  came  to  an  end,  and  the  North  German  Confederation 
was  formed  under  the  leadership  of  Prussia.  Austria  and 
the  other  South  German  states  were  not  included.  In  1870, 
when  the  Fran  co-Prussian  war  was  in  progress,  all  these 
excluded  states  but  Austria  joined  the  Northern  Union,  and 
the  next  year  the  present  German  Empire  was  organized, 
the  crown  being  invested  in  the  reigning  family  of  Prussia. 
Some  of  the  old  states  were  now  merged  in  Prussia;  the 
old  German  lands  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  that  had  been 
wrested  from  France  in  the  course  of  the  war,  were  rean¬ 
nexed  to  Germany,  and  Austria,  with  a  German  population 
of  more  than  ten  million,  was  shut  out  of  political  Ger¬ 
many  altogether. 

Perhaps  no  name  in  European  history  is  more  confusing 
than  Austria.  Austria-Hungary  is  composed,  as  the  name 
itself  suggests,  of  two  parts,  each  of  which  is  an  agglomera¬ 
tion  of  older  states  and  parts  of  states.  Hungary  consists  of 
the  old  Hungarian  kingdom  together  with  other  lands,  and 
does  not  require  further  description.  Austria  dates  from  the 
time  of  the  early  German  kings,  who  founded,  as  a  bulwark 
against  the  Hungarians,  a  mark,  march,  or  border  state, 
called  Oesterreich,  Ostmark,  Eastmark,  or  Austria.  By  and 
by  the  mark  became  a  duchy,  then  an  archduchy,  and  to¬ 
ward  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  it  passed  into  the 
possession  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg.  In  one  way  and 
another  the  Austrian  princes  won  power ;  the  imperial 
crown  came  to  them  ;  they  gained  new  territories  in  Ger¬ 
many,  in  Italy,  in  Poland,  in  Hungarian  and  Turkish  lands 
— not  all  of  which,  however,  ever  became  parts  of  Austria 
proper.  They  were  known  by  a  great  number  of  titles  :  in 
their  original  dominions  as  archdukes  ;  in  Bohemia  and 
Hungary  as  kings  ;  in  their  other  states  as  counts,  dukes, 
margraves,  etc. ;  while  in  Germany  at  large  and  through 
Europe  they  were  styled  Emperors.  The  head  of  this  com- 


162 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


posite  state  assumed  the  title  Emperor  of  Austria  when  he 
renounced  the  imperial  crown  in  1806.  He  is  now  known 
as  emperor  in  Austria  and  in  Europe  generally,  but  as  king 
in  Hungary — a  point  on  which  the  Hungarians  are  very 
sensitive.  Austria  proper  consists  of  fourteen  different 
parts,  eleven  of  which  belonged  to  Germany  previous  to 
1866. 

The  original  Prussia,  a  province  on  the  Baltic  Sea  that 
the  Teutonic  Knights  had  won  from  the  heathen,  was  not 
German  at  all.  In  the  sixteenth  century  it  passed  to  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg,  one  of  the  seven  electors  of  the 
German  kingdom,  and  in  1701  the  Elector  assumed  the  title 
King  of  Prussia.  His  kingdom  lay  partly  within  and  partly 
without  Germany.  As  a  German  prince  he  was  called  an 
elector,  but  as  a  European  prince  he  was  known  by  his 
higher  title.  Step  by  step  Prussia  has  grown  in  all  direc¬ 
tions,  until  it  is  now  far  larger  than  any  other  German 
state.  At  present  Prussia  is  all  included  in  Germany,  al¬ 
though  a  considerable  part  of  the  population,  as  the  Poles 
and  the  Pomeranians,  are  not  Germans. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  division  of  Francia  in 
the  ninth  century.  The  old  name  was  reserved  in  both 
divisions  ;  in  the  west  it  became  France,  in  the  east  Fran¬ 
conia.  Western  Francia,  or  Latin  Francia,  which  corre¬ 
sponded  in  a  general  way  to  ancient  Gaul,  following  the 
breaking  up  of  Charlemagne’s  empire,  was  divided  into  a 
great  number  of  small  political  bodies,  which,  like  all  such 
bodies  at  that  time,  were  endowed  with  the  strongest  repel¬ 
lent  qualities.  These  bodies  were  not  only  without  natural 
boundaries  for  the  most  part,  but  they  were  all  divisions  of  a 
great  region  or  country  that  was  strongly  marked  by  geo¬ 
graphical  unity  and  coherence.  The  Alps  and  the  Medi¬ 
terranean,  the  Pyrenees,  the  Atlantic,  and  the  Channel  wall 
this  region  about,  save  in  one  quarter.  On  the  northeast,  or 
the  side  of  the  Rhine,  it  lies  open,  thus  affording  a  high¬ 
way  of  war  that  armies  have  often  trodden.  In  course  of 
time  the  political  and  military  elements  existing  in  the  tenth 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD.  163 


century  were  brought  together  and  thoroughly  integrated, 
producing  modern  France.  It  is  common  to  assign  this 
great  and  beneficial  work  to  the  skill  and  policy  of  Hugh 
Capet  and  his  successors,  re-enforced  by  the  great  qualities 
of  their  people  ;  but  the  material  factors  in  the  problem 
are  no  less  potent  than  the  human  ones.  Moreover,  beyond 
the  limits  that  Nature  set  for  her,  France,  although  one  of 
the  great  military  powers  of  history,  has  never  succeeded  in 
permanently  extending  her  boundaries.  Nor  has  she  at  any 
time  been  threatened  with  serious  loss  within  these  limits. 
Only  on  her  one  open  side  have  her  boundaries  been  un¬ 
stable. 

Spain  is  a  country  of  a  strongly  marked  character,  both 
geographical  and  historical.  Minutely  to  set  forth  the  po¬ 
litical  changes  that  have  taken  place  within  it  would  require 
a  volume.  Only  two  or  three  facts  can  here  be  mentioned. 

In  the  eighth  century  the  Saracens  conquered  the  larger 
part  of  Spain ;  the  mountainous  north,  however,  preserved  its 
independence  under  a  line  of  princes  claiming  to  represent 
the  old  Gothic  kings,  and  in  time  it  became  the  Kingdom  of 
Leon.  This  kingdom  was  the  original  center  of  resistance 
to  the  Mohammedans.  Progressively,  as  the  country  was 
won  back  bit  by  bit  from  its  conquerors,  there  grew  up  a 
circle  of  counties  and  kingdoms  the  relation  of  which  to 
one  another  and  to  Leon  are  curiously  blended  and  con¬ 
fused.  The  most  prominent  of  these  were  Navarre,  which 
extended  over  the  Pyrenees,  Aragon,  Portugal,  and  Castile 
— the  last  so  called  because  at  first  it  was  a  line  of  castles. 
Modern  Spain  was  the  product  of  the  integration  of  nearly 
all  these  states.  To  quote  Dr.  Freeman :  The  permanent 
union  of  the  dominions  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  the  tempo¬ 
rary  union  of  the  dominions  of  Castile,  Aragon,  and  Por¬ 
tugal,  formed  that  great  Spanish  monarchy  which  in  the 
sixteenth  century  was  the  wonder  and  terror  of  Europe, 
which  lost  important  possessions  in  the  sixteenth  and  sev¬ 
enteenth  centuries,  and  which  was  finally  partitioned  in 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth.”  Castile  and  Aragon, 


164 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  UISTORY. 


which  had  previously  absorbed  much  Christian  territory  in 
the  peninsula,  gave  the  finishing  blow  to  the  Moorish  power 
the  very  year  that  Columbus  discovered  America.  The 
marriage  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  did  not  immediately 
lead  to  the  unification  of  the  two  crowns;  it  is  common  to 
refer  the  union  to  1506,  but  it  did  not  become  complete  and 
final  until  the  reign  of  Charles  V.  The  union  of  Portugal 
with  the  other  kingdoms  proved  to  be  but  temporary.  The 
potency  of  physical  factors  is  happily  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that  so  much  of  the  old  Navarre  as  lies  north  of  the  Pyre¬ 
nees  is  now  a  part  of  France,  while  the  remainder  is  a  part  of 
Spain. 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  ethnological,  geographical,  and 
political  meanings  of  the  same  name  often  differ  widely.  It 
is  perhaps  hardly  necessary  to  remark  that  no  student  can 
disentangle  and  retain  in  his  memory  these  distinctions  un¬ 
less  he  is  willing  to  read  closely,  to  scan  maps  carefully,  and 
to  do  a  great  deal  of  hard  thinking  besides.  It  is  also  neces¬ 
sary  that  the  student  shall  emancipate  himself  from  the 
bondage  of  the  modern  map ;  he  must  live  in  the  geography 
of  the  times  that  he  studies. 

Many  other  examples  of  the  shrinkage,  the  expansion,  the 
disappearance,  and  the  transference  of  geographical  names 
can  be  found  in  the  history  of  Europe.  The  fact  is,  every 
important  name  is  a  separate  study.  How  Saxony,  Sweden, 
and  Turkey  have  shrunk  up !  How  Russia  has  grown ! 
Through  what  transformations  Switzerland  has  passed ! 
Spain,  which  was  originally  a  geographical  name  merely,  is 
now  a  political  name  as  well.  Burgundy  and  Poland,  once 
so  prominent,  have  wholly  disappeared  from  the  map.  In¬ 
deed,  Mr.  Bryce  describes  ten  different  Burgundies,  and 
then  adds  that  there  was  very  nearly  being  an  eleventh 
one. 

Dr.  Freeman  remarks  with  emphasis,  that  although  Caesar 
in  55  B.  c.,  and  William  the  Conqueror  in  1066  a.  d.,  both 
landed  in  the  same  island,  the  first  landed  in  Britain,  the 
second  in  England.  The  distinction  is  important,  because 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD,  165 


the  two  names  suggest  very  different  conditions^  and  par¬ 
ticularly  very  different  peoples. 

The  people  of  the  Mediterranean  who  first  visited  those 
regions  appear  to  have  spoken  of  the  whole  group  of  islands 
rather  than  of  any  particular  island  as  Britain.  Still,  be¬ 
fore  Caesar’s  day  the  name  had  been  applied  also  to  the 
largest  island  of  the  group,  while  its  inhabitants,  who  were 
Celts,  were  called  Britons.  The  Roman  ponquest  and  occu¬ 
pancy  in  no  way  disturbed  these  names.  Soon  after  the 
Romans  retired  beyond  the  Channel,  in  410,  bands  of  Jutes, 
Saxons,  and  Angles  began  to  invade  Britain ;  and  step  by 
step  these  invaders,  constantly  re-enforced  from  beyond  the 
sea,  succeeded  in  displacing  the  native  inhabitants  in  a 
large  part  of  the  island.  The  Britons  already  had  some 
knowledge  of  the  Saxons,  and  that  is  probably  the  reason 
why  they  called  the  invading  host  indiscriminately  by  that 
name.  At  all  events,  they  did  call  them  all  Saxons,  and  to 
this  day  their  descendants  in  Wales,  Ireland,  and  the  Scotch 
Highlands  call  the  English  by  some  form  of  that  word. 
But  the  new  people  that  was  gradually  formed  in  Britain 
called  themselves  Angles  or  English,  and  the  country  An¬ 
glia  or  England,  perhaps  because  that  tribe  was  more  numer¬ 
ous  and  came  to  possess  more  of  the  land  than  the  others. 
Still,  England  never  took  the  place  of  Britain  as  a  name,  for 
reasons  which  it  is  important  to  state. 

The  Romans  found  a  people  known  as  the  Caledonians 
in  Northern  Britain.  They  were  of  the  Celtic  stock.  By 
and  by  the  Piets  appear  on  the  scene,  they  being  the  same 
tribe  with  a  new  name,  or  an  affiliated  tribe  who  displace  or 
absorb  the  Caledonians.  Glancing  at  the  contemporary  map 
of  Ireland,  we  see  that  its  northern  part  is  called  Scotia  and 
its  inhabitants  Scotti.  Thus  the  original  Scotland  was  North 
Ireland,  and  the  original  Scotchmen  were  Irishmen.  Before 
the  German  invasion  of  Britain  began  some  Scots  had 
crossed  the  sea  and  planted  themselves  on  the  coast  north  of 
the  Clyde.  These  Scots,  continually  re-enforced  by  their 
countrymen  in  the  lesser  island,  made  common  cause  with 


16G 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


the  Piets  in  warring  upon  the  Britons  after  the  Romans 
abandoned  the  island,  and  also  in  resisting  the  Saxons  or 
English  as  they  pressed  northward.  Moreover,  they  eventu¬ 
ally  gave  their  name  to  the  Piets,  as  well  as  to  many  of  the 
English  themselves  and  to  the  whole  northern  part  of  an- 
eient  Britain.  The  first  Nova  Seotia  was  Seotland. 

Step  by  step  the  English  pushed  their  eonquests  north¬ 
ward  as  far  as  the  Highlands,  and  they  aetually  oeeupied 
permanently  a  great  part  of  the  Seottish  Lowlands.  But 
the  English  kings  failed  to  maintain  a  high  northern  bound¬ 
ary  ;  on  the  eontrary,  there  was  formed  a  Kingdom  of  Scot¬ 
land,  the  people  of  which  were  partly  the  old  Caledonians, 
or  the  Pictish  stock,  partly  the  Scots,  and  partly  the  Lowland 
English  that  finally  made  common  cause  with  the  others. 
Thus  the  northern  as  well  as  the  southern  kingdom  is 
known  by  a  foreign  name.  Caledonia  disappeared  from  the 
map  of  the  one  island  as  Scotia  did  from  the  map  of  the 
other.  On  the  perfecting  of  the  union  of  the  kingdoms  of 
England  and  Wales  and  of  Scotland  in  1707,  it  was  ordained 
that  together  they  should  be  called  Great  Britain.  And  this 
fact  the  Scotchman,  who  is  particular  to  have  it  understood 
that  his  country  was  never  conquered,  is  strenuous  to  have 
remembered.  The  native  name  of  the  Highlander  is  Gael. 

The  diverse  elements  uniting  to  form  the  Scottish  nation 
had  much  to  do  with  the  long  and  bitter  feuds  between  the 
Highlands  and  the  Lowlands.  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  made 
the  most  of  these  contentions,  as  in  the  speech  that  Roderick 
Dhu  makes  to  Fitz  James  as  the  two  stand  upon  one  of  the 
mountain  spurs  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  Forth.  This 
speech  emphasizes  the  fact  that  the  Highlander  and  the 
Lowlander  were  of  alien  race,  and  also  iUustrates  the  High¬ 
land  or  Gaelic  use  of  the  term  Saxon. 

Saxon,  from  yonder  mountain  high, 

I  mark’d  thee  send  delighted  eye, 

Far  to  the  south  and  east,  where  lay, 

Extended  in  succession  gay. 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD.  167 


Deep  waving  fields  and  pastures  green, 

With  gentle  slopes  and  groves  between  : — 

These  fertile  plains,  that  soften’d  vale. 

Were  once  the  birthright  of  the  Gael ; 

The  stranger  came  with  iron  hand, 

And  from  our  fathers  reft  the  land. 

Where  dwell  we  now !  ’  See,  rudely  swell 
Crag  over  crag,  and  fell  o’er  fell. 

The  contrast  presented  by  men  occupying  mountainous  re* 
gions  and  by  men  occupying  plains  or  valleys  has  often  been 
remarked.  It  is  particularly  observable  in  the  early  history 
of  civilization.  The  man  of  the  mountains  retains  his  primi¬ 
tive  habits  of  character  long  after  his  neighbor  on  the  plain 
below  has  entered  upon  the  ways  of  regular  civil  life  ;  he 
continues  to  live  by  the  chase,  on  the  produce  of  his  few  goats 
or  sheep,  and  perhaps  a  meager  tillage,  to  raid  and  murder, 
and  to  assert  his  independence  in  all  ways,  when  his  neigh¬ 
bor  has  become  an  agriculturist,  a  mechanic,  or  a  trader  en¬ 
gaged  in  amassing  and  emjoying  wealth,  and  takes  up  his 
old  trade  of  war  only  when  compelled  to  do  so  in  self-de¬ 
fense.  This  story  may  he  read  in  the  relations  of  the  Scotch 
Highlanders  and  Lowlanders  down  to  recent  times.  The 
mind  of  the  mountaineer  continues  stern  and  unbending, 
his  spirit  fierce  and  intractable,  brooking  no  domination, 
when  the  Lowlander  becomes  plastic,  versatile,  devoted  to 
gain  or  comfort,  and  loving  quiet  and  peace  even  to  the 
point  of  submitting  to  severe  oppression.  Thus  mountain¬ 
ous  regions  not  only  furnish  those  who  dwell  in  them  fast¬ 
nesses  easy  of  defense,  hut  they  breathe  into  their  inhabitants 
an  intense  spirit  of  individuality  and  freedom  that  some¬ 
times  renders  them  invincible.  A  few  thousand  Monte¬ 
negrins  withstood  for  centuries  the  Ottoman  Empire  ;  and 
the  Swiss,  although  comparatively  few  in  numbers,  and 
divided  by  blood,  language,  and  local  interests,  successfully 
maintained  their  independence  against  some  of  the  greatest 
powers  of  Europe.  Still  the  men  of  the  plain  have  not  al¬ 
ways  tamely  submitted  to  the  yoke  of  the  oppressor.  Mr. 


lOS 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Kingsley  has  signalized  in  an  engaging  story  the  stubborn 
resistance  that  the  men  of  the  Fens  under  Hereward  the 
Wake  made  to  William  the  Conqueror ;  while  Mr.  Motley 
has  celebrated  in  learned  tomes  of  history  the  heroic  and 
successful  resistance  that  the  Dutch  made  to  Spain. 

Environment  tells  us  why  some  countries  are  so  subject 
to  foreign  invasion.  For  thousands  of  years  invaders  from 
beyond  the  central  mountain  axis  of  Asia  have  at  times 
pressed  into  the  great  peninsula  of  Hindostan,  seeking  its 
milder  climate  and  its  richer  fruits.  The  modem  tourist 
who  passes  in  a  day  from  France  or  Germany  into  Italy  is 
at  no  loss  to  discover  why  in  ancient  times  the  Celt,  the 
Teuton,  and  the  Hun  longed  for  its  beautiful  mountains  and 
valleys,  and  why  in  later  times  it  has  been  so  fiercely  con¬ 
tested  by  the  Frenchman,  the  Spaniard,  the  German,  and 
even  the  Saracen.  Then,  some  countries  by  their  very  posi¬ 
tion  and  configuration  are  battlefields  of  nations  or  high¬ 
ways  of  war.  Such  in  ancient  times  was  Palestine,  often 
trodden  under  foot  by  the  colossal  powers  of  Egypt,  Assyria, 
and  Syria.  Northern  Italy  has  been  a  favorite  battle  ground 
for  countries  lying  beyond  the  Alps,  while  Flanders,  Dr. 
Holmes  once  said,  is  the  bowling  alley  in  which  the  kings  of 
Europe  have  rolled  cannon  balls  at  each  other’s  armies. 
The  records  of  such  movements  and  operations  are  often 
read  in  historical  geography. 

The  English  called  the  Britons  Welsh — that  is,  strangers ; 
and  there  were  two  or  three  Welsh  kingdoms  in  the  west¬ 
ern  parts  of  the  island  that  maintained  their  independence 
through  several  centuries,  and  that,  when  finally  subdued, 
left  behind  them  enduring  memorials.  Cornwall  is  the  old 
kingdom  of  Corn- Wales,  or  kingdom  of  the  Welsh  of  the 
Horn  (Corn  being  derived  from  the  Latin  comud)  \  while 
the  Principality  of  Wales  is  the  Welsh  kingdom  that  Ed¬ 
ward  I  subdued,  and  that  gave  a  title  to  the  eldest  son  of  the 
King  of  England.  Still,  the  people  of  the  Principality  do 
not  call  themselves  Welsh,  but  Cimri. 

So  far  little  has  been  said  about  the  origin  and  meaning 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD.  169 


of  geographical  names.  Dr.  Freeman  includes  these  ele¬ 
ments  in  his  definition  of  historical  geography,  and  Rev. 
Isaac  Taylor  writes  a  hook  to  show  us  that  local  names, 
whether  of  provinces,  cities,  villages,  rivers,  or  mountains, 
are  never  purely  arbitrary  sounds  destitute  of  meaning,  hut 
are  rather  records  of  the  past,  inviting  and  rewarding  a  care¬ 
ful  historical  interpretation.  Sometimes  the  original  mean¬ 
ings  have  faded  out ;  sometimes  they  are  so  doubtful  that 
we  can  not  deduce  from  them  certain  conclusions  ;  but  in  a 
majority  of  cases  they  are  not  only  discoverable  but  throw 
much  light  on  historical  studies.  Geographical  names  are 
sometimes  chapters  of  history  in  themselves.  The  numerous 
Alexandrias,  Antiochs,  and  Seleucias  scattered  over  the  Mace¬ 
donian  Empire  point  at  once  to  their  founders  or  to  the  men 
for  whom  they  were  named.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
various  Caesareas,  of  which  Jersey  is  hut  a  corruption.  The 
cities  of  Adrianople  and  Orleans  remind  us  of  the  Emperors 
Adrian  and  AureHan.  Tiberias  stands  for  the  emperor  of 
that  name,  and  Constance  for  Constantins.  Philippi  was  the 
city  of  Philip,  and  our  own  Philadelphia  goes  back  by  the 
city  of  the  same  name  in  Asia  Minor  to  Philadelphus,  King 
of  Pergamus.  The  three  names  of  the  great  city  of  the 
Bosporus — Byzantium,  Constantinople,  and  Stamboul — fitly 
mark  the  three  periods  of  its  eventful  history.  St.  Peters¬ 
burg  is  the  City  of  Peter  the  Great.  But  such  examples  as 
these  lie  on  the  surface. 

Historical  geography  shows  very  conclusively  that,  at 
different  times,  several  different  peoples  have  flowed  over 
the  major  part  of  Europe,  and  it  also  marks  in  a  more  or 
less  definite  way  their  metes  and  bounds,  just  as  an  existing 
moraine  marks  the  former  extent  of  an  ancient  glacier. 
First  of  all,  so  far  as  we  know,  came  the  race  of  which  the 
Basques  and  Finns  are  remnants ;  and  then  followed  suc¬ 
cessive  waves  of  Celts,  Germans,  Lithuanians,  and  Slavo¬ 
nians,  that  have  left  incontestable  proof  of  their  presence  in 
geographical  names  wherever  they  went.  Celtic  names 
abound  in  the  region  west  of  the  Rhine,  in  Italy,  and  in  the 
13 


170 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


British  islands,  and  are  found  beyond  these  limits.  Ger- 
mam  names  are  scattered  over  the  western  half  of  Europe. 
In  fact,  some  of  these  countries  are  sown  with  names  in 
different  languages  three  or  four  deep,  and  it  is  often  easy 
to  discover  the  order  in  which  they  are  scattered.  In  Italy, 
Greek,  Latin,  Celtic,  and  German  names  are  found,  not  to 
mention  still  other  languages ;  in  France,  Celtic,  Latin,  and 
German  names.  In  the  eighth  century  the  Arabs  crossed 
the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  and  founded  a  kingdom  in  Spain  ; 
they  also  invaded  Gaul,  the  Mediterranean  islands,  and 
Southern  Italy  ;  and  wherever  they  went  they  left  behind 
them  demonstrative  proof  of  their  presence,  even  if  their 
name  should  fade  from  the  annals  of  Europe.  In  Spain 
and  Portugal,  where  they  remained  longest,  the  memorials 
of  their  presence  are  thousands  in  number,  including  many 
of  the  best-known  names,  as  Guadalquivir,  Gibraltar,  Medi¬ 
na,  and  Trafalgar.  At  a  still  earlier  time  the  Phoenicians 
had  given  a  name  to  Cadiz. 

In  Great  Britain  historical  geography  shows  us  the  plain¬ 
est  traces  of  the  three  races  that  have  ruled  the  island — the 
Celts,  the  Romans,  and  the  English — and  also  of  the  inva¬ 
sions  of  the  Scandinavians  and  the  Normans. 

Names  given  to  features  of  country  are  naturally  more 
permanent  than  names  of  towns  and  political  divisions. 
‘‘  Mountains  and  rivers,”  it  has  been  said,  “  still  murmur  the 
voices  of  nations  long  since  denationalized  or  extirpated.” 
To  quote  Mr.  Taylor :  “  The  river  names,  more  particularly 
the  names  of  important  rivers,  are  everywhere  the  memo¬ 
rials  of  the  very  earliest  races.  These  river  names  survive 
when  all  other  names  have  changed ;  they  seem  to  possess  an 
almost  indestructible  vitality.  Towns  may  be  destroyed,  the 
sites  of  human  habitations  may  be  removed,  but  the  ancient 
river  names  are  handed  down  from  race  to  race ;  even  the 
names  of  the  eternal  hills  are  less  permanent  than  those  of 
rivers.  Over  the  greater  part  of  Europe — in  Germany, 
France,  Italy,  Spain — we  find  villages  which  bear  Teutonic 
or  Romance  names,  standing  on  the  banks  of  streams  which 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY;  THE  OLD  WORLD.  171 


still  retain  their  ancient  Celtic  appellations.  Throughout 
the  whole  of  England  there  is  hardly  a  single  river  name 
which  is  not  Celtic.”  The  same  author  prints  a  map  that 
shows  the  most  thoroughly  Saxon  and  Scandinavian  parts 
of  Great  Britain  to  he  traversed  by  rivers  whose  names  are 
now  almost  the  sole  evidence  of  a  once  universal  Celtic  oc¬ 
cupation.  Often  the  Celtic  name  was  simply  a  word  that 
meant  water,  stream,  or  river,  and  so  was  a  common  noun,  as 
a/ow,  meaning  river,  and  dur  and  esk^  meaning  water.  The 
Saxons  also  named  streams  in  the  same  way.  Frequently 
the  present  name  is  composed  of  two  or  more  root  words. 
Thus  the  Teutons,  coming  to  a  stream  already  called  Dur  or 
Door,  added  “beck,”  making  Durbeck,  which  means  water- 
stream.  Esk-water  and  Derwent-water  were  formed  in  the 
same  way.  Wansbeckwater  is  composed  of  four  parts,  and 
means  river  water-river  water. 

Chester  is  the  Latin  castra,  meaning  camp,  and  the 
name  bears  witness  to  the  fact  that  the  city  stands  on  the 
site  of  an  old  Roman  fortification.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  names  holding  the  same  word  in  combination,  as  Dor¬ 
chester,  Rochester,  Porchester,  Manchester,  Doncaster,  and 
many  more.  Cologne,  or  Koln,  as  the  German  says,  is  a 
corrupted  form  of  the  Latin  colonia,  and  shows  us  that  the 
Romans  had  a  colony  on  the  site  of  that  city ;  while  Coblenz 
comes  from  the  Latin  confluentes,  and  points  to  the  fact  that 
the  Romans  also  occupied  the  confluence  of  the  Rhine  and 
the  Moselle.  The  syllable  “  coin  ”  in  English  Lincoln  has 
the  same  origin  as  Cologne. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  Cologne  is  by  no  means 
a  solitary  example  of  a  double  name  occurring  in  that  re¬ 
gion  of  Europe.  W e  have  Elsass  and  Alsace,  Lothringen  and 
Lorraine,  Mosel  and  Moselle,  Mainz  and  Mayence,  Trier  and 
Treves,  Liittich  and  Liege,  Mechlin  and  Malines,  Lowen  and 
Louvain,  Aachen  and  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  many  more. 
The  first  name  in  the  several  pairs  is  the  older  German 
name,  the  second  one  the  later  French  name.  The  expla¬ 
nation  of  these  double  names  is  partly  the  fact  that  the 


172 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTOKY. 


French  have  a  fashion  of  adapting  names  to  their  own  lan¬ 
guage,  and  that  other  peoples,  as  the  English,  owing  to  the 
general  currency  of  French,  commonly  adopt  these  newer 
forms  ;  but  it  is  also  partly  the  fact  that  this  region  has  been 
a  debatable  land  between  Qermany  and  France,  at  different 
times  in  the  possession  of  either  people,  and  so  furnishes  a 
valuable  lesson  in  historical  geography. 

In  England  a  multitude  of  names  are  found  that  suggest 
the  idea  of  an  inclosure,  and  so  of  protection.  The  familiar 
terminations  ‘‘  ton,”  ‘‘  ham,”  “  worth,”  ‘‘  stoke,”  “  fold,” 
‘"garth,”  “park,”  “burgh,”  “bury,”  “borough,”  “borrow,” 
all  have  this  meaning.  These  terminations  were  added  to 
some  other  word,  as  the  name  of  a  tribe  or  family,  and  in  this 
way  were  formed  many  of  our  most  familiar  geographical 
names.  The  original  bond  of  the  Saxon  community  was 
blood  relationship.  “As  they  fought  side  by  side  on  the 
field,”  says  Mr.  Green,  “  so  they  dwelt  side  by  side  on  the  soil. 
Harling  abode  by  Harling,  and  Billing  by  Billing,  and  each 
‘  wick  ’  and  ‘  ham  ’  and  ‘  stead  ’  and  ‘  ton  ’  took  its  name  from 
the  kinsmen  who  dwelt  in  it.  In  this  way  the  house  or  ham 
of  the  Billings  was  Billingham,  and  the  town  or  township  of 
the  Harlings  was  Harlington.”  The  fact  that  most  of  the 
old  centers  of  population,  as  London,  Winchester,  Manches¬ 
ter,  Lancaster,  and  others,  hear  Celtic  or  Latin-Celtic  names, 
while  other  centers  hear  Teutonic  names,  suggests  that  it 
was  in  the  first  that  the  Celts  longest  maintained  themselves 
against  their  enemies ;  “  while  the  Teutonic  town  names 
usually  indicate  by  their  suffixes  that  they  originated  in  iso¬ 
lated  family  settlements  in  the  uncleared  forest,  or  arose 
from  the  necessities  of  traffic  in  the  neighborhood  of  some 
frequented  ford.” 

The  Scandinavians,  who  played  such  an  important  part 
in  English  history,  would  naturally  land  on  the  northeast¬ 
ern  coast,  since  it  was  most  convenient  to  their  own  coun¬ 
try  ;  and  the  multitude  of  Scandinavian  names  found  in 
that  part  of  the  island,  separate  from  all  documents,  proves 
that  such  was  the  fact. 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  OLD  WORLD.  173 


The  names  of  many  English  counties  are  full  of  instruc¬ 
tion.  Essex,  Sussex,  Wessex,  and  Middlesex  were  first  the 
names  respectively  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  East,  South,  West, 
and  Middle  Saxons,  before  the  Teutonic  kingdoms  were 
united.  Surrey  was  the  south  realm.  Norfolk  and  Suffolk 
were  the  northern  and  southern  divisions  of  the  East  Angli¬ 
can  folk.  Northumberland  is  the  land  north  of  the  Hum¬ 
ber.  Cumberland,  Cornwall,  Devon,  and  Kent  are  the 
names  of  Celtic  tribes. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  many  lessons  that  we  read  in  the 
geographical  names  of  the  Old  World.  We  shall  now  study 
some  of  the  similar  lessons  written  on  the  map  of  the  New 
World. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


fflSTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD. 

References. — 1.  Discovery  and  early  Exploration. — Bancroft’s, 
Hildreth’s,  and  Bryant  and  Gay’s  Histories ;  Winsor :  Narrative  and 
Critical  History  of  America  (II.,  III.,  IV.),  Christopher  Columbus 
(IX.-XIX.,  Appendix,  The  Geographical  Results) ;  Fiske :  The  Dis¬ 
covery  of  America  (V.,  VI.,  VII.,  XII.);  Scaife:  America,  Its  Geo¬ 
graphical  History,  1492-1892 ;  Parkman :  The  Pioneers  of  France 
in  the  New  World. 

2.  Interior  and  Western  Exploration. — Winsor,  as  above;  Park- 
man  :  Series  entitled  France  and  England  in  North  America ;  J.  D. 
Whitney :  The  United  States  (Appendix,  A,  B). 

3.  Maps. — MacCoun:  The  Historical  Geography  of  the  United 
States,  Historical  Charts  of  the  United  States ;  Hart :  The  Epoch 
Maps ;  also  the  maps  in  Winsor. 

4.  Miscellaneous. — Lodge :  A  Short  History  of  the  English  Colo¬ 
nies  ;  Poore :  The  Federal  and  State  Constitutions,  Colonial  Charters, 
etc.;  Taylor:  Names  and  Places;  Coxe:  The  Forum,  IV.,  67  (Amer¬ 
ican  Geographical  Names);  Red  way:  Manual  of  Geography;  C. 
Blackie :  Etymological  Geography. 

In  some  respects  the  historical  geography  of  the  New 
World  is  even  more  interesting  than  that  of  the  Old. 
It  abounds  in  examples  of  the  enlargement,  the  shrinking 
up,  the  transference,  and  the  disappearance  of  names.  It 
presents  to  us  aboriginal  names  in  competition  with  names 
given  by  discoverers  and  explorers,  and  names  of  the  second 
class  in  competition  with  one  another.  We  meet  a  multi¬ 
tude  of  names  brought  over  from  Europe.  What  is  more, 
the  whole  process  goes  on  in  the  open  light  of  history — as  it 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  175 


were,  under  our  own  eyes — a  fact  that  often  makes  the  les¬ 
son  more  definite  and  precise. 

The  first  lesson  that  we  read  in  the  historical  geography 
of  the  New  World  is  the  history  of  a  great  man’s  blunder. 
When  Columbus  sailed  from  Palos  on  his  first  voyage  of 
discovery,  he  expected  to  land  in  Cathay,  or  China,  which 
had  been  made  known  to  the  people  of  Europe  by  Marco 
Polo  and  other  travelers.  Strong  as  was  his  belief  that  he 
should  make  such  a  landfall,  he  found  nothing  in  the 
islands  which  he  discovered  corresponding  to  the  glowing 
accounts  of  Cathay  that  he  had  received.  Hence  he  con¬ 
cluded  that  he  had  come  upon  some  of  the  islands  that  Mar¬ 
co  had  described  as  lying  off  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia,  and 
so  that  he  was  within  the  magic  circle  of  -India.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  he  identified  Hayti  as  Cipango,  or  Japan.  He  there¬ 
fore  reported  on  his  return  to  Spain  that  he  had  found  the 
Indias,  and,  of  course,  the  Indians.  In  his  three  subsequent 
voyages  he  interpreted  everything  that  he  discovered  in  the 
light  of  his  original  prepossession.  He  believed  that  Cuba 
and  the  South  American  coast  were  parts  of  the  mainland 
of  Asia ;  and  although  he  was  twice  on  the  shore  of  the 
new  continent,  and  followed  it  for  some  distance  in  both  in¬ 
stances,  he  never  entertained  the  idea  that  he  ,had  found  a 
new  world.  He  said,  not  long  before  his  death,  that  if  any 
man  did  not  give  him  credit  for  having  discovered  the  re¬ 
maining  parts  of  Asia,  it  must  spring  from  personal  hostil¬ 
ity.  His  report  was  implicitly  accepted  by  the  Spanish 
Government,  which  proceeded  in  due  time  to  organize  the 
famous  Council  for  the  Indies.  The  example  that  the  Span¬ 
iards  thus  set  was  generally  followed.  Columbus’s  geo¬ 
graphical  errors  were  in  due  time  corrected,  but  the  correc¬ 
tion  did  not  prevent  the  names  Indies  and  Indians  from  at¬ 
taching  themselves  firmly  to  the  New  World.  The  islands 
among  which  he  made  his  first  discoveries  are  still  known 
as  Indies,  the  prefix  West  having  been  given  them  to 
distinguish  them  from  the  Indies  proper,  or,  as  they  are  now 
called,  the  East  Indies.  All  things  considered,  it  is  perhaps 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEaCH  HISTORY. 


1  t  U 

strange  that  the  whole  New  World  was  not  similarly 
named  ;  at  least,  The  Indies  is  the  Spanish  official  designa¬ 
tion  of  America  to  this  day.  But  while  the  name  that  Co¬ 
lumbus  applied  to  the  new  countries  is  now  used  only  in  a 
restricted  sense,  the  name  that  he  applied  to  the  people  is 
used  in  a  general  sense.  The  native  races  of  America  are 
known  as  the  Indians,  or  the  American  Indians,  to  distin¬ 
guish  them  from  the  Asiatic  or  original  Indians.  As  a  re¬ 
sult,  wherever  the  word  “  Indian  ”  is  used  as  a  local  name, 
either  by  itself  or  in  combination,  we  have  a  memorial  of 
the  erroneous  theory  that  lay  in  the  mind  of  Columbus 
when  he  sailed  from  Palos,  and  of  the  practical  mistakes 
that  he  committed  afterward,  and  in  which  he  persisted  to 
his  death.* 

A  thousand  times  has  the  failure  to  call  by  his  name  the 
world  to  which  Columbus  piloted  the  way  been  declared  a 
grievous  wrong.  Had  such  a  suggestion  been  made  to  him, 
he  would  have  repelled  it  with  passionate  warmth.  He  had 
brooded  on  Asia,  he  sailed  for  Asia,  his  great  plans  turned 
on  Asia,  and  it  was  Asia  that  he  had  found.  To  listen  to 
anything  else  would  have  been  treason  to  the  passion  of  his 
life.  He  had  sought  what  he  did  not  find  ;  he  had  found 
what  he  did  not  seek.  We  know  that  his  failure  was  a  far 
grander  triumph  than  his  success  could  have  been,  but  this 
thought  lay  below  the  horizon  of  his  day.  But  we  must  not 
think  Columbus  blinder  than  others.  Asia  had  completely 
enthralled  the  men  of  that  age,  and  they  could  see  no  other 
vision  when  they  looked  into  the  West.  History  is  full  of 


*  Dr.  George  E.  Ellis  says :  “  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  the  French, 
who  so  soon  after  followed  the  Spaniards  by  voyages  to  the  southern  and 
northern  lands  on  the  mainland  of  our  domain,  did  not  adopt  or  use  the 
w'ord  ‘  Indians  ’  as  a  name  for  the  aborigines.  I  do  not  recall  a  single  case 
of  its  use  by  any  of  the  French  explorers.  They  uniformly  spoke  and 
wrote  of  the  natives  as  ‘  les  sauvages  ’ — the  savages.  Occasionally  a  reference 
may  be  found  in  which  a  French  writer  will  use  the  expression,  ‘  the  In¬ 
dians,  as  the  English  call  the  savages.’” — The  Bed  Man  and  th4  White 
Man^  p.  3. 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  1^7 


examples,  including  both  the  Cabots  and  explorers  as  late 
as  John  Smith,  Henry  Hudson,  and  La  Salle.  John  Cabot 
thought  that  he  had  landed  in  the  territory  of  the  Grand 
Khan  when  he  made  his  landfall  in  the  region  of  the  St. 
Lawrence.  Thoroughly  to  cast  Asia  out  of  the  map  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere  was  the  work  of  two  hundred  years. 

Americas  Vespucius  was  long  supposed  to  have  robhed 
Columbus  of  the  honor  that  was  his  due.  This  is  now 
known  to  be  a  baseless  charge.  Without  attempting  to 
guess  the  Vespucian  riddle,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  most  per¬ 
plexing  in  the  history  of  Western  exploration,  the  main 
facts  in  relation  to  the  baptism  of  the  New  World  may  be 
stated. 

In  April  or  May,  1503,  Vespucius  wrote  a  letter  to  Loren¬ 
zo  de  Medici,  giving  an  account  of  his  voyage  in  1501-’2,  the 
so-called  third  of  the  Vespucian  voyages,  in  which  he  had 
followed  the  South  American  coast  far  to  the  south  of  Cape 
San  Roque.  He  thought  it  proper  to  call  this  coast  a  new 
world.  The  translator  of  a  Latin  version  of  this  letter  that 
appeared  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  year  made  these 
words  the  title  of  his  little  pamphlet,  Mundus  Novus.  Nu¬ 
merous  editions  of  this  tract  were  published  in  different 
languages,  and  among  others  the  Latin  edition  referred  to 
at  Strasburg,  in  1505.  In  September,  1504,  Vespucius  wrote 
a  letter  to  Soderini,  a  magistrate  of  Florence  and  an  old 
schoolfellow,  in  which  he  gave  a  rough  outline  of  his  four 
voyages.  This  letter  was  published  in  Florence,  July,  1506. 

At  this  time  there  was  a  small  group  of  scholars,  some¬ 
times  called  an  academy  or  college,  clustered  around  a  print¬ 
ing  press  in  Saint  Die,  in  the  Vosges  Mountains.  While 
these  scholars  were  employed  upon  a  new  edition  of  Ptol¬ 
emy’s  Geography,  there  was  brought  to  them  a  French  copy 
of  Vespucius’s  letter  to  Soderini,  which  was  handed  over  to 
Martin  Waldseemiiller  and  Matthias  Ringman,  who  were 
more  especially  charged  with  the  work,  to  be  used  as  mate, 
rial.  Ringman  was  the  man  who  had  brought  out  the  Stras¬ 
burg  edition  of  the  letter  to  Lorenzo,  and  was  therefore 


178 


flow  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


already  familiar  with  the  idea  of  a  new  world.  Too  impa¬ 
tient  to  await  the  tardy  appearance  of  the  Ptolemy^  the  two 
scholars  executed  a  work  named  Cosmographiae  Introductio. 
This  work,  consisting  of  fifty -two  leaves,  contained  a  simple 
treatise  on  cosmography  and  the  full  text  of  the  letter  to 
Soderini.  The  last  chapter  of  the  original  part  of  the  work, 
following  descriptions  of  Asia,  Europe,  and  Africa  as  the 
three  grand  divisions  of  the  earth,  as  taught  by  Ptolemy, 
contained  this  pregnant  sentence  : 

“But  now  these  parts  have  been  more  extensively  ex¬ 
plored,  and  another  fourth  part  has  been  discovered  by 
Americus  Vespucius,  as  will  appear  in  what  follows  :  where¬ 
fore  I  do  not  see  what  is  rightly  to  hinder  us  from  calling  it 
Amerige  or  America,  i.  e.,  the  land  of  Americus,  after  its 
discoverer  Americus,  a  man  of  sagacious  mind,  since  both 
Europe  and  Asia  have  got  their  names  from  women.” 

The  Cosmographise  Introductio  was  published  in  1507, 
and  attained  a  considerable  circulation.  Its  principal  au¬ 
thor,  Waldseemuller,  baptized  America.  We  must  not  sup¬ 
pose  that  the  Saint  Die  scholar  dreamed  of  what  he  was  do¬ 
ing.  He  intended  merely  to  call  a  part  of  the  country  that 
we  know  as  Brazil,  America.  The  name  was  soon  expanded. 
On  John  Ruysch’s  map  of  1508,  so  much  of  South  America 
as  appears  is  called  Terra  Sanctae  Crucis,  sive  Mundus  Novus, 
while  the  discoveries  that  had  already  been  made  in  the 
north  are  represented  as  appendages  of  Asia.  On  the  map 
assigned  to  Leonardo  da  Vinci  (about  1514)  America  takes 
the  place  of  this  double  designation,  and  on  Mercator’s  Pro¬ 
jection  (1541)  Labrador,  Nova  Scotia,  Florida,  Mexico,  and 
Mundus  Novus  are  connected  by  continuous  though  very 
inaccurate  coast  lines,  making  a  continent  wholly  distinct 
and  separate  from  Asia,  while,  as  if  to  solemnize  the  mar¬ 
riage,  the  first  three  letters  of  the  name  AMERICA,  now 
given  to  the  whole  continent,  are  placed  above  the  site  of 
Lake  Superior,  and  the  last  four  west  of  the  River  Plate. 

Still  Columbus’s  name  has  been  many  times  impressed 
on  the  map  of  the  New  World  ;  witness  the  United  States  of 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  179 


Colombia,  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  capitals  of  South. 
Carolina  and  Ohio,  the  great  river  of  Oregon,  and  the  minor 
Columbuses  and  Columbias  scattered  over  our  land.  Then 
the  poetic  name  sometimes  given  to  America,  but  com¬ 
monly  to  the  United  States,  should  not  be  forgotten.  Its 
earliest  use  in  literature,  in  the.  more  limited  sense,  is  said 
to  be  in  Dr.  Dwight’s  song  : 

Columbia,  Columbia,  to  glory  arise, 

The  queen  of  the  world  and  the  child  of  the  skies. 

The  land  that  Vespucius  called  Novus  Mundus  and  Wald- 
seemiiller  America,  was  first  called  Sancta  Cruz,  and  after¬ 
ward  Terra  Sanctae  Crucis.  America  was  soon  used  for  a 
general  purpose,  while  the  earlier  names  gave  way  to  Bra¬ 
zil,  a  name  given  to  the  country  because  it  produced  Brazil 
wood,  a  highly  prized  dye  stuff,  so  called  on  account  of  its 
color — braza,  a  live  coal  or  glowing  fire.  The  same  name, 
variously  spelled,  had  before  been  applied  to  a  mythical 
island  lying  in  the  Atlantic.  Mr.  Scaife  says  the  name  had 
^‘a  will-o’-the  wisp  character,”  since  it  designated  various 
bodies  of  land  on  different  maps,  as  an  anarctic  continent 
extending  to  the  south  pole,  as  well  as  the  island  of  Brazil, 
which  the  map-makers  moved  about  to  suit  themselves. 
The  mythical  geography  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  contributed 
another  notable  name  to  American  history.  Antiilia,  or 
Isle  of  Seven  Cities,  one  of  the  most  persistent  of  the  imagi¬ 
nary  islands,  was  supposed  to  lie  in  mid-ocean  on  the  road 
to  Cathay.  Toscanelli,  who  figured  it  on  his  celebrated  map, 
told  Columbus  that  it  would  be  a  convenient  halfway  house 
on  his  great  voyage  to  the  Indies.  Early  in  the  sixteenth 
century  the  name  was  given  to  the  groups  of  islands  that 
still  bear  it — the  Greater  and  the  Lesser  Antilles. 

India  and  Indian  are  not  the  only  American  names  that 
commemorate  blunders.  The  body  of  water  called  Rio  Ja¬ 
neiro  is  a  bay,  and  not  a  river  ;  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  is  not  a 
river  of  silver.  The  name  of  the  greatest  river  on  the  globe 
was  given  to  it  in  the  belief  that  its  banks  were  inhabited  by 


180 


now  TO  STunr  and  teach  history. 


a  tribe  of  female  warriors,  and  so  it  keeps  alive  the  Amazons 
who  figure  in  ancient  story.  On  the  St.  Lawrence,  not  far 
above  Montreal,  the  village  of  Lachine  stands  at  the  foot  of 
the  rapids  of  the  same  name.  Mr.  Parkman  quotes  an  old 
French  authority,  who  says  that  the  name  was  given  to  the 
place  in  1669  by  some  of  La  Salle’s  men,  who  refused  longer 
to  follow  him,  in  derision  of  the  adventurer’s  dream  of  a 
westward  passage  to  China.  Another  account  is  that  La 
Salle  himself  gave  the  name,  in  token  of  his  early  faith  that 
he  could  reach  China  by  the  way  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
Mention  may  also  be  made  of  the  coast  that  was  early  called 
Tierra  del  Labrador,  cultivable  land,  to  distinguish  the  re¬ 
gion,  it  is  said,  from  Greenland. 

Two  nations  that  shared  in  the  division  of  America  wrote 
their  religious  creeds  on  the  maps  of  the  regions  that  they 
visited  and  for  a  time  controlled.  For  example,  we  find  in 
Canada,  the  Lake  region,  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  many 
rivers  named  for  saints  :  the  St.  Croix,  the  St.  Johns,  the  St, 
Lawrence,  the  St.  Francis,  the  St.  Charles,  St.  Maurice,  St. 
Claire,  St.  Joseph,  St.  Louis,  and  many  others.  In  Florida 
the  St.  Marys  and  the  St.  Johns  are  found.  Between  Nova 
Scotia  and  Florida,  with  a  single  exception,  I  recall  no  river 
that  bears  the  name  of  a  saint.  The  French  who  named 
the  rivers  of  the  North  and  West,  and  the  Spaniards  who 
named  those  of  the  South,  were  Catholics,  while  the  Eng¬ 
lish  who  occupied  the  middle  region  were  Protestants.  The 
exception  proves  the  rule — it  is  the  St.  Marys  of  Maryland, 
a  Catholic  colony.  The  geographical  distribution  of  towns 
and  cities  bearing  the  prefiLx  ‘‘  St.,”  “  San,”  or  “  Santa,”  is  also 
well  worth  observing.  In  fact,  from  the  day  that  Columbus 
called  Guanahani  San  Salvador,  the  Spaniards,  Portuguese, 
and  French  gave  full  proof  of  their  piety  by  drawing  heavily 
upon  the  saints’  calendar  and  the  list  of  holy  days  to  mark 
their  discoveries. 

A  small  island  off  the  western  coast  of  Newfoundland 
is  called  Baccalaos.  This  word  is  extensively  used  in  south, 
ern  Europe  as  a  name  for  codfish.  It  has  the  same  mean- 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  181 


ing  as  stock-fish,  so  called  because  this  fish  was  commonly 
stuck  on  a  stock  or  stick  to  be  cured.  Baccalaos,  variously 
spelled,  is  found  on  many  of  the  maps  of  the  early  discover¬ 
ers  on  the  eastern  coast  of  North  America.  Sometimes  it  is 
the  name  of  an  island,  sometimes  of  an  extensive  region  on 
the  mainland,  sometimes  it  comprehends  Newfoundland, 
Labrador,  and  Nova  Scotia.  Who  first  used  the  name  can 
not  he  ascertained,  but  the  causes  that  led  to  its  use  are 
clear  enough.  At  that  time,  when  all  Christians  were  Catho¬ 
lics  and  the  Catholic  festivals  were  universally  observed, 
fish  were  a  very  important  article  of  food  and  fishing  a  very 
important  industry  ;  and  it  was  but  natural  that  the  name 
‘‘  codfish  land  ”  should  be  given  to  the  region  where,  as  the 
Cabots  said,  these  fish  almost  crowded  one  another  out  of  the 
water. 

A  full  list  of  names  once  placed  on  maps  of  America 
that  did  not  remain  there  would  be  a  long  one.  Peru  was 
called  New  Castile.  Sir  Francis  Drake,  on  his  voyage 
around  the  world  in  1 577-’ 80,  visited  the  western  shore  of 
the  United  States,  took  possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  named  it  Nova  Albion.  The  same  name  was 
given  to  New  Jersey,  when  it  was  patented  to  Edward  Plow- 
den  in  1634.  Around  few  of  our  lost  names  does  more  ro¬ 
mance  cluster  than  around  Norumbega.  This  name,  vari¬ 
ously  spelled,  is  found  on  many  early  maps,  sometimes  des¬ 
ignating  an  island  off  the  coast  south  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law¬ 
rence,  and  sometimes  a  part  of  the  mainland.  We  read 
also  of  a  river  and  city  bearing  the  same  name  ;  the  river  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  Penobscot,  the  city  was  never 
found.  In  the  day  when  the  discovery  of  gold  was  an  al¬ 
most  universal  passion,  when  fancy  was  quick  and  men 
were  credulous,  it  was  not  strange  that  crazy  adventurers, 
misinterpreting  what  the  Indians  told  them,  should  invent 
an  El  Dorado  ;  while  of  all  possible  regions  the  vast  wilds 
of  the  Orinoco  or  the  Amazon  were  the  most  favorable  for 
its  location.  On  no  other  subject  did  the  Spaniards  so  oft¬ 
en  misunderstand  the  Indians  as  in  relation  to  the  precious 


182 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


metals.  Efforts  to  find  the  gold  and  silver  of  Manoa,  culmi¬ 
nating  in  those  made  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  at  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  yield  to  few  adventures  in  respect 
to  romance  and  peril,  and  to  none  in  respect  to  the  disap¬ 
pointments  with  which  they  were  crowned.  The  fictions 
of  the  El  Dorado  and  of  the  Amazons  Originated  at  the  same 
time.  Basing  her  claim  upon  Verrazzano’s  voyage  of  1524, 
France  at  one  time  claimed  the  eastern  sea  front  of  the 
United  States,  and  her  attempt  to  colonize  and  hold  the 
southern  portion  of  it  led  to  some  of  the  most  tragical 
events  in  colonial  history.  Two  important  marks  of 
that  temporary  occupation  still  remain,  the  names  Port 
Royal  and  Carolina,  the  second  of  which  was  given 
for  Charles  IX  of  France.  In  accordance  with  the 
same  claim,  Henry  IV  gave  the  region  bounded  on  the 
south  by  the  fortieth  parallel,  and  on  the  north  by  the 
forty-sixth  parallel,  to  De  Monts,  the  charter  bearing  the 
date  1603.  The  king  imposed  upon  the  grant  the  name 
Acadia.  The  establishment  of  the  English  colonies  and 
other  causes  soon  limited  the  name  to  the  peninsula  that 
the  English  afterward  named  Nova  Scotia.  Acadia  has 
disappeared  from  the  map,  but  will  long  live  in  history, 
and  in  tale  and  story. 

California  is  perhaps  the  most  romantic  of  all  our  Ameri¬ 
can  names.  In  1862  Dr.  E.  E.  Hale  found  the  name  in  a 
Spanish  romance  that  appeared  in  1510,  entitled  The  Deeds 
of  Esplandian.  In  this  romance  this  bit  of  description  is 
met  with  : 

Know,  then,  that  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Indies  there  is  an  island 
called  California,  very  close  to  the  side  of  the  Terrestrial  Paradise, 
and  it  was  peopled  by  black  women,  without  any  men  among  them, 
for  they  lived  in  the  fashion  of  Amazons.  They  were  of  strong  and 
hearty  bodies,  of  ardent  courage  and  great  force.  Their  island  was 
the  strongest  in  all  the  world,  with  its  steep  cliffs  and  rocky  shores. 
Their  arms  were  all  of  gold,  and  so  was  the  harness  of  the  wild 
beasts  which  they  tamed  and  rode.  For  in  the  whole  island  there 
was  no  metal  but  gold.  They  lived  in  caves  wrought  out  of  the 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  183 


rock  with  much  labor.  They  had  many  ships  with  which  they 
sailed  out  to  other  countries  to  obtain  booty.* 

The  connection  between  this  romance  and  the  western  side 
of  our  continent  has  not  been  very  clearly  made  out.  Dr. 
Hale  thought  the  name  struck  the  fancy  of  Cortez  as  an 
omen  of  wealth,  and  that  he  made  the  application  in  1530  ; 
as  a  Western  person  now  gives  the  name  of  Eden  to  his  new 
home,  so  Cortez  called  his  new  discovery  California.  This 
is  probable  enough  as  to  the  process,  but  doubtful  as  to  the 
man  and  the  time.  The  name  is  a  striking  one,  derived  per¬ 
haps  from  the  Eastern  title  caliph,  and  it  does  not  require 
much  ingenuity  to  see  how  such  adventurers  as  the  Span¬ 
iards  should  have  borrowed  it  from  the  romance.!  Certain 
it  is  that  the  name  became  greatly  expanded  ;  there  came  to 
be  an  Upper  and  a  Lower  California,  the  first  of  which  is 
now  the  State  of  that  name,  while  the  second  is  still  a  prov¬ 
ince  of  Mexico.  For  many  years  following  the  discovery 
of  gold  California  was  often  called  El  Dorado  :  this  was 
because  that  golden  name  had  come  to  be  a  synonym  for  a 
place  where  it  was  believed  wealth  could  be  rapidly  accumu¬ 
lated. 

Of  the  familiar  process  of  name  expansion  the  New 
World  offers  some  good  examples.  America  and  Brazil 
have  already  been  mentioned.  When  the  Spaniards  in¬ 
vaded  the  country  of  Montezuma  they  found  that  his  capi¬ 
tal  and  the  district  surrounding  it  were  called  Mexico,  a 
name  derived  from  the  Aztec  war  god.  This  name  the 
Spaniards  gave  to  the  whole  country,  and  afterward  to  a 
large  share  of  Spanish  North  America.  The  first  use  of 
Canada,  as  well  as  its  origin,  is  disputed  ;  some  writers  de¬ 
rive  it  from  a  Latin  root,  some  say  it  is  a  native  word  ;  some 
hold  that  it  was  first  a  generic  name,  and  some  that  it  was  a 
local  name  ;  the  probability  is  that  the  name  is  Indian, 
meaning  a  village  or  collection  of  huts,  and  that  the  early 


*  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  xiii,  p.  267. 
t  See  Winsor:  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  443. 


18i 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


French  explorers,  meeting  it  for  the  first  time  on  the  lower 
St.  Lawrence,  mistook  it  for  the  name  of  a  region  or  dis¬ 
trict.  No  one  claims  that  the  Indians,  or  even  the  French, 
ever  used  it  in  its  present  greatly  enlarged  signification. 

In  1513,  Ponce  de  Leon,  while  in  search  of  the  fountain  of 
youth,  as  the  story  runs,  discovered  the  southern  peninsula 
in  which  the  Atlantic  coast  terminates,  and  named  it  Florida, 
because  he  first  saw  the  shore  on  Pascua  Florida,  or  flowery 
Sunday,  as  the  Spaniards  call  Easter.  This  name  the  Span¬ 
iards  extended  until  “  it  comprehended,”  says  Mr.  Parkman, 
“the  whole  country  extending  from  the  Atlantic  on  the 
east  to  the  longitude  of  New  Mexico  on  the  west,  and  from  . 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  River  of  Palms  indefiLnitely  north¬ 
ward  toward  the  frozen  sea.”  The  same  writer  teUs  us  fur¬ 
ther  that  a  map  of  the  time  of  Henry  II  of  France  names 
all  North  America  Terra  Florida.  France  and  England 
laid  claim  to  large  parts  of  this  territory.  France  finally 
withdrew  her  claim  in  the  South,  leaving  the  other  two 
powers  to  settle  their  dispute.  England  founded  the  colo¬ 
nies  of  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia  in  spite  of  the 
opposition  of  Spain.  The  Spanish  claim,  and  so  Florida 
itself,  was  more  and  more  hemmed  in  ;  but  no  final  bound¬ 
ary  had  been  agreed  upon  down  to  the  time  that  Florida 
was  ceded  to  England,  in  1763.  Long  before  this  time  the 
founding  of  Louisiana  by  the  French  had  cut  Florida  short 
on  the  west,  at  the  Mobile  River.  The  King  of  England, 
the  very  year  of  the  cession,  made  the  St.  Marys  River  and 
the  thirty-first  parallel  the  northern  boundary  of  the  prov¬ 
ince.  Passing  by  the  later  disputes  over  its  boundaries,  we 
may  say  that  Florida  came  to  the  United  States  in  1819 
with  the  limits  just  named,  and  that  it  was  afterward  some¬ 
what  reduced  in  order  to  widen  Alabama’s  front  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

The  first  Louisiana  was  the  Mississippi  Valley,  together 
with  the  country  east  and  w^est  draining  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  from  the  Mobile  to  the  Rio  Grande.  The  sec¬ 
ond  Louisiana  was  the  western  haK  of  the  valley  and  the 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  185 


island  of  New  Orleans.  This  was  the  Louisiana  purchase  of 
1803.  In  1804  Congress  organized  that  part  of  the  purchase 
lying  south  of  parallel  33°  into  the  Territory  of  Orleans,  and 
the  next  year  the  part  lying  north  of  the  same  line  into  the 
Territory  of  Louisiana.  This  state  of  things  continued 
until  1812,  when  the  Territory  of  Orleans,  with  some  minor 
changes  of  boundaries,  became  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and 
the  Territory  of  Louisiana  took  the  name  of  Missouri. 

In  choosing  names  of  discoverers  and  explorers  for  geo¬ 
graphical  purposes,  the  Muse  of  History  acted  a  capricious 
part.  Her  treatment  of  Columbus  and  Vespucius  has  al¬ 
ready  been  described.  Neither  of  the  two  Cabots  nor  John 
Smith  was  in  any  way  recognized.  Raleigh  lives  in  the 
capital  of  North  Carolina.  Hudson  is  commemorated  by 
the  river,  the  strait,  and  the  bay  that  bear  his  name.  Cham¬ 
plain  gave  his  name  to  the  lake  that  he  discovered  in  1609, 
La  Salle  and  Joliet  are  names  of  Illinois  cities,  Marquette 
the  name  of  a  Michigan  city,  while  Hennepin  is  the  name 
of  a  projected  canal  ;  but  neither  Verrazano  nor  Cartier 
has  been  similarly  honored.  In  the  far  North,  where  com¬ 
petition  for  territory  was  less  eager,  it  is  somewhat  dif¬ 
ferent  ;  here  we  meet  the  names  of  Frobisher,  Davis,  Baffin, 
and  Smith.  The  great  Spanish  discoverers  and  conquerors 
fared  still  worse  than  the  Englishmen  and  Frenchmen  ;  the 
names  of  Ponce  de  Leon,  De  Soto,  Cortes,  Coronado  are 
unknown  to  the  maps  unless  in  humble  capacities.  In  later 
times  it  has  been  much  as  it  was  in  the  beginning  :  Mac¬ 
kenzie,  Lewis,  Clark,  Pike,  Long,  Fremont,  are  familiar 
names  of  mountains  or  rivers  ;  but  we  search  in  vain  for 
any  token  of  the  brothers  La  Verendrye,  who  discovered  the 
Rocky  Mountains  ;  of  Gray,  who  first  sailed  into  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  ;  or  of  Bonneville,  who  first  explored  the 
Great  Basin. 

A  glance  at  a  map  of  the  New  World  would  teach  any 
student,  independently  of  other  evidence,  that  it  had  been  in 
possession  of  a  native  race  or  races  before  the  arrival  of  the 
European  colonists.  There  is  no  mistaking  an  aboriginal 
14 


18G 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


name  for  a  European  one.  The  Indian  names  that  remain 
throw  light  upon  the  distribution  and  relationships  of  the 
native  tribes,  upon  their  habits  of  mind,  and  the  scope  of 
their  geographical  ideas.  They  illustrate  the  tendency  to 
name  an  object  with  reference  to  some  striking  quality  or 
feature.  Minnehaha  is  laughing  water  ;  Sandusky,  cold 
spring  ;  Michilimackinac,  great-turtle  place.  The  Indians 
of  the  north,  at  least,  were  deficient  in  general  names,  as  of 
regions  and  districts  ;  even  our  States  that  bear  Indian 
names  have  borrowed  them  from  local  features,  as  the  name 
of  a  river  or  of  an  Indian  tribe.  As  in  Europe,  the  most 
persistent  names  are  those  of  rivers.  A  large  majority  of 
the  important  rivers  of  the  United  States  bear  Indian  names, 
and  particularly  those  of  the  West,  some  of  which  have 
survived  a  close  competition  with  one  or  more  European 
names.  The  Spaniards  first  called  the  Mississippi  the  river 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  Marquette  called  it  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  and  La  Salle  the  Colbert ;  the  Iroquois  called 
it  the  Ohio  ;  but  the  proper  Algonquin  name,  Mississippi, 
meaning  “  much  water  ”  or  “  many  waters,”  was  the  fittest, 
if  survival  is  a  test  of  fitness.  The  French  called  the  Ohio 
both  the  St.  Louis  and  the  La  Belle  Riviere,  but  here  again 
the  native  name  triumphed.  Cartier  adopted  the  Indian 
name  Hochelaga  for  the  great  river  of  the  north,  but  St. 
Lawrence,  the  name  that  he  had  given  to  the  gulf,  unfortu¬ 
nately  superseded  it.  The  same  river  is  called  the  Iroquois 
and  the  Cataraqui  in  many  old  historical  documents. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that,  relatively,  a  much  larger  num¬ 
ber  of  native  names  has  been  preserved  in  the  West  than  in 
the  East.  Only  two  of  the  fifteen  Atlantic  States  bear  such 
names,  while  only  five  of  the  twenty-nine  other  States  bear 
European  names.  Something  the  same  is  true  also  of  rivers 
and  other  natural  features  of  the  country.  White  men  sud¬ 
denly  introduced  to  the  Atlantic  slope  tended  to  use  Euro¬ 
pean  names  ;  while  in  the  West,  where  they  became  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  country  gradually,  they  tended  to  use  a 
larger  number  of  the  native  names. 


mSTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  187 


The  nations  colonizing  America  would  naturally  want 
names  for  their  new  possessions,  and  just  as  naturally  they 
would  tend  to  name  them  after  the  old  countries.  Spain 
was  content  with  The  Indies  as  a  general  name  ;  but  she 
called  her  vast  dominions  in  North  America^  exclusive  of 
Florida,  New  Spain,  a  name  that  remained  on  the  map  until 
those  dominions  became  independent.  On  Franquelin’s  map, 
such  of  Louis  XIV’s  American  dominions  as  drained  to  the 
Atlantic,  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  Great  Lakes  are  called 
New  France  ;  such  of  them  as  drained  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
Louisiana.  At  a  later  day  New  France  included  both  of 
these  two  great  divisions,  while  the  divisions  themselves 
were  called  Louisiana  and  Canada.*  The  Swedes  called 
their  colony  on  the  Delaware  New  Sweden,  and  the  Dutch 
their  more  vigorous  plantings  New  Netherlands.  New  Eng¬ 
land  was  never  used  in  a  general  sense.  In  one  respect 
England’s  possessions  in  North  America  were  peculiar  ; 
they  never  had  any  proper  general  name.  The  nearest  ap¬ 
proach  to  it  was  Virginia. 

The  Cabots  did  not  name  the  coasts  visited  by  them  in 
1497-98,  that  England  afterward  claimed  by  right  of  their 
discoveries.  The  charter  granted  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in 
1584  neither  named  nor  described  any  region  that  he  was 
authorized  to  colonize.  Raleigh  proposed  to  call  the  country 
to  which  he  sent  his  ships  Virginia,  in  honor  of  the  Virgin 
Queen,  and  Elizabeth  promptly  approved  the  suggestion. 
The  charter  of  1606,  that  created  the  London  and  Plym¬ 
outh  Companies,  authorized  the  planting  of  two  colonies 
in  that  part  of  America  commonly  called  Virginia,  and 
other  parts  and  territories  lying  between  34°  and  45°  north 
latitude.  The  charter  of  1609  to  the  London  Company 


*  “  According  to  Ortilius,  New  France  comprises  the  whole  of  both  North 
and  South  America ;  so  also  in  the  Speculum  Orbis  Terrarum  of  Cornelius, 
1593.  The  application  of  this  name  dated  back  to  a  period  immediately 
after  the  voyage  of  Verrazzano,  and  the  Dutch  geographers  are  especially 
free  in  their  use  of  it,  out  of  spite  of  the  Spaniards.” — Farhman :  Pioneers 
of  France  in  the  Few  Worlds  p.  184^ 


18S 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


bounded  Virginia  on  the  south  by  a  latitudinal  line  drawn 
through  a  point  two  hundred  miles  south  of  Old  Point  Com¬ 
fort,  and  north  by  a  west  and  northwest  line  drawn  through 
a  point  the  same  distance  from  the  same  starting  place, 
“throughout  from  sea  to  sea.”  The  charter  of  1611-’12 
made  the  Bermudas  a  part  of  Virginia. 

These  vast  limits  were  invaded  on  every  side.  The  Mary¬ 
land  and  Pennsylvania  charters,  1632  and  1681,  with  the 
subsequent  settlements,  limited  the  colony  on  the  north  by 
the  Potomac  River  and  Mason  and  Dixon’s  line  ;  the  Caro¬ 
lina  charter  of  1665,  limited  it  on  the  south  by  the  parallel 
36°  30'.  The  treaties  made  in  1763,  at  the  close  of  the  French 
and  Indian  War,  bounded  the  English  colonies  on  the  west, 
Virginia  included,  by  the  Mississippi  River.  At  the  close 
of  the  Revolution  Virginia  claimed  on  the  parallel  36°  30'  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  northwest  of  the  Ohio  to  the  Great  Lakes 
and  the  same  river.  In  1784  she  surrendered  to  the  National 
Government  her  claim  to  the  Old  Northwest,  and  in  1792 
she  consented  to  the  admission  of  Kentucky  to  the  Union  as 
an  independent  State.  The  Civil  War  still  further  limited 
the  State  of  Virginia  by  the  creation  of  West  Virginia. 

In  1608  Captain  John  Smith  explored  more  fully  than 
had  yet  been  done  the  coast  of  northern  Virginia  beyond 
Cape  Cod,  mapped  it,  and  named  it  New  England.  The 
charter  of  1620  confirmed  to  the  Plymouth  Company  all  that 
part  of  America  lying  between  the  fortieth  and  the  forty- 
eighth  parallels  of  north  latitude,  “  throughout  all  the  main¬ 
lands  from  sea  to  sea,”  King  James  at  the  same  time  declar¬ 
ing  it  to  be  his  will  and  pleasure  that  the  same  should 
henceforth  be  called  by  the  name  of  New  England  in 
America.  This  great  domain  was  cut  short  in  the  north  by 
the  French  claims  and  settlements,  and  on  the  west  and 
southwest  by  the  operations  of  the  Dutch  on  the  Hudson 
and  the  creation  of  the  group  of  middle  colonies. 

At  first  Englishmen  called  the  new  English  communities 
beyond  the  Atlantic  The  Colonies,  or  The  Plantations,  and 
afterward,  when  circumstances  required  more  precision. 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  189 


The  Thirteen  Colonies,  or  The  American  Colonies.  When 
these  communities  became  independent,  and  assumed  a  sepa¬ 
rate  station  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  they  took  the 
name  The  United  States  of  America.  It  has  often  been 
proposed  that  this  designation,  which  is  rather  a  description 
than  a  name,  should  be  dropped,  and  a  real  name,  as  “  Co¬ 
lumbia,”  ‘‘Appalachia,”  or  “ Alleghania,”  should  be  adopted 
in  its  stead. 

There  is  not  a  State  in  the  Union  a  good  map  of  which 
will  not  teach  some  valuable  historical  lessons.  The  shower 
of  classical  names  on  the  map  of  Central  New  York  does  not 
point  to  a  Roman  or  Greek  occupation  of  that  State,  but  it 
certainly  was  not  an  accident.  The  large  number  of  places 
in  Virginia  marked  “  C.  H.,”  with  the  name  of  the  county 
preceding  the  letters,  as  Hanover  Court  House,  Fairfax 
Court  House,  Cumberland  Court  House,  etc.,  point  plainly 
enough  to  the  infrequency  of  towns  that  was  so  character¬ 
istic  of  that  State  in  early  times.*  The  names  of  Gallia 
County  and  Gallipolis,  Ohio,  testify  to  the  French  emigra¬ 
tion  that  the  Scioto  Company,  under  the  lead  of  Joel  Barlow, 
brought  to  the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  Cincinnati  was  named 
for  the  famous  Revolutionary  society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and 
points  us  back  to  the  Roman  dictator.  The  map  of  Michigan 
bears  impartial  testimony  to  the  presence  of  the  races  and 
nationalities  that  have  dominated  the  two  peninsulas,  the 
Indian,  the  French,  and  the  Anglo-American.  In  the  south- 
central  and  southwestern  portions  of  the  State  many  coun¬ 
ties  are  known  by  the  names  of  President  Jackson  and  lead¬ 
ing  Democratic  statesmen  of  his  time — Calhoun,  Van  Buren, 


*  “  One  great  element  of  modern  life  was  wholly  wanting.  There  were 
practically  no  towns  and  no  centers  of  population.  The  people  were  widely 
scattered  over  the  whole  face  of  the  country.  .  .  .  These  [county]  towns, 
planted  in  many  cases  in  the  midst  of  the  forest,  usually  consisted  of  the 
courthouse,  the  prison,  and  its  accompaniments  of  stocks,  pillory,  whip¬ 
ping  post,  and  ducking  stool,  with  one  miserable  inn,  where  the  judges 
lodged  when  they  came  to  hold  court.” — Lodge :  A  Short  History  of  the 
English  Colonies  in  America,^  pp.  50^  52. 


V 


190 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Cass,  Livingston,  Berrien,  Branch,  Eaton,  and  Barry.  Not  a 
single  Whig  statesman  has  been  similarly  honored.  The 
explanation  is  that  the  State  came  into  the  Union  under 
Democratic  auspices,  in  1837,  and  was  itself  strongly  Demo¬ 
cratic  in  politics  at  the  time  when  this  portion  of  the  State 
was  settled. 

Why  some  names  survive  and  others  perish,  is  a  curious 
question.  Professor  E.  G.  Bourne  draws  attention  to  the 
fact  that  Waldseemiiller  really  proposed  two  names  for  the 
Novus  Mundus  of  Vespucius — Amerige^  composed  of  the 
Greek  ge  and  a  shortened  genitive  of  Americus^  and  a  femi¬ 
nine  form  of  Americus;  and  he  thinks  the  second  one  was 
adopted  rather  than  the  first  because  it  is  simpler  and  more 
euphonious.*  No  doubt  the  superior  fitness  or  convenience 
of  one  name  rather  than  another  was  often  a  decisive  factor. 
Political  causes  also  had  much  to  do  with  the  matter.  The 
triumph  of  England  over  France  effaced  New  France  and 
Acadia  from  the  map,  while  the  independence  of  Mexico 
abolished  New  Spain. 

Still  closer  attention  may  be  drawn  to  the  relations  ex¬ 
isting  between  names  and  nationalities.  The  traces  of  the 
French  in  South  Carolina,  on  Lake  Champlain,  in  the  West, 
and  on  the  northern  New  England  shore  are  too  obvious  to 
be  mistaken.  It  is  not  necessary  to  read  history  to  learn  that 
the  Dutch,  the  first  of  Europeans,  occupied  the  Hudson  and 
Mohawk  Valleys,  New  York  Bay,  and  parts  of  New  Jersey. 
At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  the  beginning 
of  the  succeeding  one,  thousands  of  Scotch-Irish  flocked  to 
America  ;  and  their  names  may  he  found  scattered  along 
our  great  Eastern  mountain  system  from  Londonderry  in 
New  Hampshire  to  the  far  South.  Holland,  and  several 
other  names  of  Netherland  provinces  found  on  the  western 
shore  of  the  lower  Michigan  peninsula,  enable  us  to  locate 
a  large  Dutch  emigration.  Historical  geography  teaches  us 
that  a  large  part  of  the  United  States  once  belonged  to 


*  The  Nation,  No.  1423. 


HISTORICAL  GEOGRAPHY:  THE  NEW  WORLD.  191 


Spain  ;  for  example,  little  learning  is  required  to  distin¬ 
guish  between  the  river  names  of  Texas  or  California  and 
those  of  the  Atlantic  slope. 

One  of  the  most  important  lessons  read  in  our  historical 
geography  is  the  great  number  of  Old  World  names  found 
on  our  maps.  These  names  teach  us  how  much  easier  it  is 
to  borrow  an  old  name  than  to  make  a  new  one.  They  es¬ 
tablish  lines  of  race  descent  and  of  historical  connection. 
They  speak  of  the  emigrant’s  fondness  for  the  places  and 
scenes  and  men  that  he  has  left  behind  him.  Very  often 
we  find  a  name  that  has  been  many  times  repeated  ;  perhaps 
it  was  first  used  in  Massachusetts,  then  transported  to  West¬ 
ern  New  York  or  to  Ohio,  next  to  Wisconsin  or  Iowa,  and 
finally  to  the  Pacific  slope.  The  emigration  that  has  made 
the  last  transfer  looks  back  to  its  previous  home,  as  the  Eng¬ 
lish  emigrants  to  Massachusetts  or  Virginia  looked  back  to 
the  mother  country.  All  the  nationalities  that  have  con¬ 
tributed  to  our  mixed  population  have  also  contributed  to 
our  store  of  geographical  names. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


NORTH  AMERICA  IN  OUTLINE. 

References, — Reclus :  The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants  (The  United 
States),  also  other  works  previously  mentioned ;  Guyot :  Earth  and 
Man ;  Whitney :  The  United  States.  Facts  and  Figures  Illustrat¬ 
ing  the  Physical  Geography  of  the  Country  and  its  Material  Re¬ 
sources;  Shaler:  Previous  references;  Ganett:  A  Dictionarv  of 
Altitudes  in  the  United  States;  Doyle:  The  History  of  the  United 
States,  Chap.  I.,  The  English  Colonies  in  America,  L,  The  Puritan 
Colonies,  II.,  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  the  Carolinas ;  Count  of  Paris : 
History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America  (Vol.  III.,  Chap.  L,  Rivers  and 
Railways) ;  Draper :  History  of  the  American  Civil  War,  Thoughts 
on  the  Future  Civil  Polity  of  America  (L,  On  the  Influence  of  Cli¬ 
mate)  ;  Thwaites,  Hart,  and  Wilson :  Epoch  Series  of  American 
History:  MacCoun :  Historical  Geography  of  the  United  States, 
Historical  Charts  of  the  United  States. 

The  teacher  of  history  should  form  in  his  mind  an  out¬ 
line  map  of  the  theater  with  which  he  deals, — an  outline  at 
once  strong  and  hold,  and  also  sufficiently  detailed  to  hold 
the  larger  historical  facts.  This  map  will  be  larger  or 
smaller  according  to  the  breadth  of  the  field  that  he  is  cov¬ 
ering.  If  he  is  treating  the  civil  war  in  England,  a  map 
of  Great  Britain  suffices ;  hut  if  he  is  following  the  career 
of  Napoleon,  his  survey  must  practically  embrace  all  Eu¬ 
rope.  The  teacher  of  the  history  of  the  United  States  will 
find  it  necessary  to  work  out  such  a  map  of  North  America. 
Moreover,  no  small  part  of  his  task  will  be  to  develop  simi¬ 
lar  maps  in  the  minds  of  his  pupils,  and  to  show  them  how 
to  organize  their  historical  material  with  reference  to  them. 


NORTH  AMERICA  IN  OUTLINE. 


193 


As  an  aid  to  teachers  who  are  seeking  to  do  this  work,  as 
well  as  a  preparation  for  several  chapters  that  are  to  follow, 
a  mental  sketch  map  of  onr  continent  is  submitted. 

In  form  North  America  bears  a  general  likeness  to  a  tri¬ 
angle.  Its  sides  are  formed  by  the  shore  lines  of  the  three 
oceans  that  inclose  it.  In  size  it  is  the  third  of  the  conti¬ 
nents,  containing  a  little  less  than  8,000,000  square  miles 
(7,952,386  square  miles,  including  the  West  Indies). 

The  eastern  north-and-south  trending  ranges  of  the  Cor- 
diUeran  Mountain  system  form  the  primary  geographical 
axis  of  the  continent,  and  divide  it  into  two  very  different 
but  not  very  unequal  parts. 

The  western  division,  consisting  of  a  vast  complex  of 
mountain  ranges  and  peaks,  valleys,  basins,  slopes,  and  pla- 
teaus,  is  sometimes  called  the  Pacific  Highlands,  sometimes 
the  Cordilleran  System,  and  again  the  Cordilleran  Kegion. 
This  region  is  very  complicated  in  geographical  structure, 
even  that  part  of  it  which  falls  within  the  United  States  be¬ 
ing  divided  into  six  several  parts :  1,  The  Kocky  Mountains ; 
2,  The  Great  Basin  and  the  Basin  ranges ;  3,  The  Northern 
or  Columbian  Plateau ;  4,  The  Southern  or  Colorado  Pla¬ 
teau  ;  5,  The  Sierra  and  Cascade  ranges ;  6,  The  Pacific 
Coast  ranges.  While  we  are  not  called  upon  to  describe 
these  one  by  one,  some  of  the  more  general  features  of  the 
region  should  be  worked  out. 

The  first  fact  to  invite  our  attention  is  the  high  elevation 
which  the  Pacific  Highlands  reach.  In  the  United  States 
alone  there  are  numerous  mountain  peaks  that  attain  to 
heights  of  more  than  fourteen  thousand  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  These  high  altitudes,  however,  are  much  less 
significant  than  the  high  average  elevation  of  the  whole 
mass.  If  the  continent  were  depressed  about  six  thousand 
feet — or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  if  the  sea  were 
raised  by  that  amount — while  its  whole  eastern  side  would 
disappear  beneath  the  waves,  on  the  western  side,  in  Cen¬ 
tral  America,  in  Mexico,  in  the  United  States,  and  in  the 
British  Possessions,  not  merely  isolated  mountain  peaks,  but 


194 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


extensive  plateaus  and  valleys  would  still  be  above  the  sur¬ 
face. 

Railroads  that  cross  mountains  seek  out  the  natural  pass¬ 
es  or  depressions.  The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  pierces 
the  divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  high  up  in  William’s 
Pass,  by  a  tunnel  four-fifths  of  a  mile  long,  at  an  elevation 
of  5,548  feet.  The  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  in  South  Pass, 
attains  an  elevation  of  more  than  eight  thousand  feet.  The 
Central  Pacific  crosses  the  Sierra  Nevada  seven  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea  level.  Ogden,  where  the  Union  Pacific 
and  the  Central  Pacific  effect  their  junction,  is  forty-three 
hundred  feet,  or  about  the  level  of  Salt  Lake. 

Another  feature  is  the  shore  line  ;  north  of  Puget  Sound 
this  is  irregular,  but  not  deeply  indented;  south  of  the  sound 
it  is  so  remarkably  regular  that  one  rarely  finds  an  extend¬ 
ed  coast  that  conforms  more  closely  to  a  series  of  straight 
lines  drawn  from  headland  to  headland.  There  are  but  two 
or  three  good  harbors  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States, 
the  best  ones  being  formed  by  the  bays  of  San  Francisco 
and  San  Diego.  The  rapid  growth  of  San  Francisco  is 
mainly  owing  to  its  having  the  finest  harbor  on  the  coast. 
The  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  is  difficult  of  access,  save 
to  steam  vessels  handled  by  skillful  pilots. 

Mention  of  the  Columbia  suggests  another  characteristic 
feature  ;  but  few  rivers  come  down  to  the  sea.  There  are 
but  two  worthy  of  note  in  the  United  States — the  Columbia 
and  the  Colorado — and  these  are  in  no  sense  continental 
streams.  No  river  on  that  side  opens  a  water-way  to  the 
central  part  of  the  continent. 

But  the  absence  of  continental  rivers  is  not  the  only  fact 
that  makes  the  continent  difficult  of  approach  on  that  side. 
Starting  from  any  point  on  the  coast  that  one  may  choose, 
he  must  cross  parallel  chains  of  lofty  mountains  before  he 
reaches  the  interior.  Again,  the  slopes  are  abrupt — some  of 
them  very  abrupt.  The  descent  from  the  summit  of  the 
Central  Pacific  Railroad  on  the  sierra  to  the  great  valley  of 
California  is  greater  than  that  from  the  South  Pass  to 


NORTH  AMERICA  IN  OUTLINE. 


195 


Omaha,  and  is  made  in  a  much  shorter  distance.  The  loco¬ 
motives  that  draw  the  heavily  laden  trains  up  the  slopes  of 
the  sierra  labor  as  though  they  were  things  of  life. 

Putting  all  that  has  been  said  together,  we  see  that  the 
western  side  of  North  America  is  geographically  closed  and 
unsocial.  It  does  not  stretch  out  open  hands  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  the  world  beyond.  Nor  should  we  fail  to  observe 
that,  until  we  reach  a  high  latitude,  there  are  no  islands  off 
the  coast  or  near  the  coast  that  could  allure  the  discoverer, 
or  give  the  colonist  a  basis  of  operations  against  the  con¬ 
tinent  itself.  The  greatest  of  all  the  oceans  rolls  between 
that  shore  and  the  ancient  but  stunted  civilizations  of  the 
opposing  one.  Fortunately,  the  continent  did  not  invite  the 
Mongolian  race. 

Turning  our  backs  upon  the  Pacific  and  facing  the  other 
way,  we  soon  discover  that  the  eastern  side  of  the  continent 
differs  from  the  western  in  every  feature  that  has  been  men¬ 
tioned.  It  is  much  simpler  in  structure.  Not  only  are  there 
no  mountain  ranges  or  peaks  to  compare  with  those  of  the 
Pacific  Highlands,  but  the  average  elevation  is  low.  We 
face  two  sides  of  the  triangle,  which  are  broken,  and  often 
deeply  broken,  by  numerous  indentations.  Here  we  find 
some  of  the  grandest  rivers  in  the  world.  And,  finally,  the 
characteristic  slopes  are  among  the  longest  and  gentlest  with 
which  the  geographer  has  to  deal.  But  all  these  points 
must  be  worked  out  in  detail. 

Parallel  with  the  Atlantic  shore,  and  not  a  great  distance 
from  it,  run  the  Appalachian  Mountains  from  Point  Gaspe 
to  Alabama.  This  system  forms  the  secondary  axis  of  the 
continent.  It  consists  of  numerous  chains  or  ridges,  some 
of  them  practically  continuous,  although  separated  by 
transverse  depressions,  some  of  them  parallel  and  separated 
by  intervening  valleys.  The  highest  summit  in  the  North 
is  Mount  Washington,  6,293  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea; 
in  the  South,  Mitchell’s  High  Peak,  6,688  feet.  In  structure, 
this  system  of  mountains  is  much  the  most  complicated  part 
of  eastern  North  America. 


196 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


To  the  east  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains  lies  the  Atlan¬ 
tic  Slope  or  Plain,  having*  an  average  width  of  not  more  than 
two  hundred  miles,  and  descending  gradually  from  the 
mountain  foothills  to  the  shore.  This  slope  is  indented, 
and  sometimes  cut  almost  wholly  across  by  numerous  bays, 
sounds,  and  arms  of  the  sea.  It  is  also  traversed  bv  a  multi- 
tude  of  rivers  that  head  in  the  mountains,  a  few  of  them 
flowing  east  or  south,  but  most  of  them  following  the  gen¬ 
eral  line  of  the  slope  to  the  southeast.  These  ocean  inden¬ 
tations  and  rivers  furnish  numerous  harbors — many  of 
them  excellent  harbors— and  some  of  them  also  water  trans¬ 
portation  almost  to  the  very  watersheds  that  supply  them. 

The  Atlantic  slope  is  singularly  open  and  accessible  from 
the  side  of  the  sea  ;  but  the  mountains  behind  it,  while  of 
low  elevation  as  compared  with  those  of  the  Pacific  slope, 
still  form  a  mountain  rampart  that  long  opposed  an  effectual 
obstacle  to  westward  movements  of  population,  and  even  to 
discovery  and  exploration. 

Between  the  Gordilleran  and  Appalachian  systems  of 
mountains  lies  the  Central  Plain  or  middle  region  of  the 
continent.  This  plain  extends  from  the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  five  thousand  miles,  and  from  east  to  west, 
in  the  widest  part,  one  half  that  distance.  The  numerous 
inequalities  that  it  presents,  although  some  of  them  are 
called  mountains,  are  so  slight  in  comparison  with  the  size 
of  the  region  that  we  may  well  consider  it  as  the  third 
primary  unit  of  the  continent,  the  Pacific  Highlands  and  tlie 
Atlantic  Highlands  being  the  other  two. 

The  Central  Plain  is  divided  into  three  parts.  The  St. 
Lawrence  Valley  and  the  Lake  Basin,  which  together  form 
one  of  the  three  subdivisions,  cuts  the  Appalachian  system 
and  the  Atlantic  plain  short  on  the  north,  and  then,  extend¬ 
ing  first  southwest  and  then  north  and  northwest,  splits  the 
Central  Plain  one  half  in  two.  North  of  the  watersheds  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  of  the 
wavy  slight  elevation  that  extends  westward  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  is  the  Arctic  Plain,  sloping  gradually  down  to 


NORTH  AMERICA  IN  OUTLINE. 


197 


the  Arctic  Ocean,  Hudson  Bay,  and  the  Labrador  coast. 
South  of  the  southern  watersheds  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  be¬ 
ginning  at  a  point  in  central  New  York,  and  of  the  eleva¬ 
tion  before  referred  to  beyond  the  head  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  of  the  Great  Lakes,  the  Mississippi  Valley  slopes  south¬ 
ward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  by  far  the  most  important  of 
the  subdivisions  of  the  Central  Plain.  Perhaps  the  best  way 
to  think  of  these  three  divisions  is  as  continental  drainage 
basins. 

The  comparative  sizes  of  the  various  physical  divisions 
of  the  United  States  are  of  much  interest.  The  following 
are  the  areas  as  given  by  Professor  Whitney,  to  whom  I  am 
much  indebted  for  facts  used  in  the  preparation  of  this 
chapter,  Alaska  not  included  : 

square  miles. 


The  Pacific  slope  and  Great  Basin  .  .  848,000 

The  Atlantic  slope .  277,000 

The  Lake  Basin .  175,000 

The  Mississippi  Valley  ....  1,240,000 
Other  Gulf  of  Mexico  drainage  .  .  486,000 

Total . 3,018,000 


The  eastern  side  of  North  America  lies  open  to  the  sea. 
Three  great  water-ways  pierce  its  center. 

First  may  be  mentioned  Hudson  Bay  and  the  Nelson- 
Winnipeg  Piver  system,  which  extends  to  the  Rocky  Moun¬ 
tains  and  Height  of  Land.  The  great  bay,  discovered  by 
the  man  whose  name  it  bears  and  whose  life  it  cost,  in  the 
days  when  men  were  searching  for  a  northwest  sea  route  to 
the  Indies,  was  once  a  bone  of  English  and  French  conten¬ 
tion  ;  but  since  it  is  closed  to  navigation  the  major  part  of 
the  year  it  has  never  acquired  much  historical  importance. 
Still  it  offers  the  shortest  passage  from  the  far  Northwest  to 
the  wharves  of  Liverpool,  and  the  practicability  of  sending 
the  grain  products  of  that  extensive  region  by  that  passage 
to  the  European  markets  is  now  under  discussion. 

Secondly,  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Great  Lakes.  This 


198 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


water-way  played  an  important  part  in  the  early  days  of 
discovery  and  exploration ;  and  it  was  the  object  of  a  much 
fiercer  contention  between  the  great  powers  before  mentioned 
than  the  more  northern  one,  almost  from  the  beginning  of 
the  French  and  English  plantations  down  to  1763.  In  the 
two  struggles  between  the  United  States  and  England  the 
possession  of  the  St.  Lawrence  has  been  vigorously  attacked 
by  the  first  and  stoutly  defended  by  the  second.  The  basin 
that  it  drains  is  so  large  and  so  productive,  and  is  so  closely 
connected  with  the  surrounding  areas,  while  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence  is  itself  such  a  noble  river,  that,  as  has  been  said,  we 
might  expect  to  find  it  forming  the  grand  avenue  of  com¬ 
munication  with  the  interior,  and  furnishing  at  or  near  its 
mouth  the  metropolis  of  the  continent,  were  it  not  that  the 
northeasterly  trend  of  the  river  carries  it  into  a  region 
beyond  that  of  successful  cultivation  and  populous  settle¬ 
ments,  where  navigation  is  suspended  during  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  year.  As  it  is.  New  York  is  found  at  the 
opening  of  another  inland  commercial  avenue. 

Far  in  the  south  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  makes  the  largest 
indentation  found  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  continent.  This 
not  only  gives  to  the  United  States  a  long  sea  boundary  of  a 
thousand  miles  and  more,  hut,  what  is  of  still  greater  impor¬ 
tance,  through  the  numerous  rivers  that  fiow  into  it,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  the  Mississippi,  makes  the  southern  half  of  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Plain  as  accessible  by  water  as  any  similar  area  in  the 
world.  The  great  extent  of  “  the  drainage  of  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  naturally  opens 
the  way  to  a  recognition  of  the  most  important  fact  in  the 
topography  of  the  country,  namely,  the  existence  of  such  an 
orographic  structure  as  compels  the  waters  to  concentrate 
themselves  into  one  great  system  of  tributaries,  coming  in 
from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  uniting  in  a  main  north- 
and-south  channel.” 

We  may  now  notice  the  elevations  above  the  sea  of  a 
few  points  lying  in  the  Lake  Basin  and  the  Mississippi 
Valley  : 


NORTH  AMERICA  IN  OUTLINE. 


199 


feet. 

Lake  Superior . 602 

Lake  Erie . 573 

Lake  Ontario . 247 

Pittsburg . 700 

Lake  Itasca . 1,656 

St.  Paul  700 

St.  Louis . 400 

Cairo . 300 


From  St.  Paul  to  the  Yellowstone  Piver  the  elevation  is 
but  two  feet  to  the  mile,  and  the  Union  Pacific  Eailroad 
ascends  the  Platte  by  a  gradient  of  five  feet  to  the  mile. 

The  Great  Lakes  call  for  more  specific  mention.  A 
writer  has  remarked  that  the  term  “  Basin  of  the  Lakes  ”  is 
a  misnomer,  for,  like  most  fresh-water  lakes,  these  bodies  of 
water  occupy  an  elevated  plateau — the  summit,  in  fact,  of  the 
vast  expanse  of  land  which  spreads  out  between  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  the  Pocky  Mountains.  No  large  stream,s  fiow 
into  them,  and  they  drain  limited  areas.  On  the  contrary, 
the  Ohio,  the  Wabash,  and  other  large  tributaries  of  the 
Mississippi  have  their  sources  within  a  few  miles  of  the  lake 
borders,  yet  drain  into  the  southern  gulf  ;  while  the  great 
rivers  of  British  America,  commencing  near  the  lakes,  have 
their  outlets  in  the  northern  seas.  The  magnificent  St. 
Lawrence  alone,  finding  its  supply  in  these  sources,  pursues 
its  eastward  way  to  the  Atlantic.  The  lakes  cover  a  water 
area  of  ninety-five  thousand  square  miles,  and  drain  one  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  They  make  up  the  largest 
system  of  deep-water  inland  navigation  on  the  globe,  and 
contain  more  than  one  half  of  all  its  fresh-water  surface. 
How  elevated  is  the  region  that  they  occupy,  and  how 
low  the  surrounding  watersheds,  is  shown  by  the  channels 
through  which  at  different  times  they  have  discharged 
their  fioods.  Once  there  was  an  outlet  from  Lake  Michigan 
through  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Pivers  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  ;  also  one  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Gulf  by  the  Wa¬ 
bash.  Later  there  was  an  open  drainage  channel  from  Lake 


200 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Ontario  through  the  Mohawk  and  the  Hudson  to  New  York 
Bay,  and  still  later  an  outlet  from  Lake  Huron  via  Lake 
Ni pissing,  French  River,  and  the  Ottawa  to  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence.  Once  the  Hudson,  Lake  Champlain,  and  the  Riche¬ 
lieu  formed  a  continuous  body  of  water.  Geologically,  it 
is  only  in  very  recent  times  that  the  present  outlet  through 
the  Detroit  River,  the  Niagara,  and  the  St.  Lawrence  be¬ 
came  the  sole  cliannel  of  discharge  of  the  northern  waters. 

Nature  could  hardly  have  furnished  easier  lines  of  com¬ 
munication  from  any  one  of  the  three  great  drainage  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  Central  Plain  to  those  adjoining,  provided  she 
were  to  preserve  their  individuality  at  all. 

From  New  York  Bay  northward  to  the  St.  Lawrence  ex¬ 
tends  a  strongly  marked  depression  of  surface  that  cuts  the 
Appalachian  system  asunder  and  separates  New  England 
from  the  Middle  States.  In  the  southern  half  of  this  depres¬ 
sion  lies  the  Hudson  River,  with  New  York  city  at  its  ex¬ 
tremity  ;  in  the  northern  half,  the  Richelieu- Champlain  sys¬ 
tem,  with  Montreal  at  its  extremity  ;  the  two  separated  and 
connected  by  a  narrow  “  divide,”  over  which  canal  and  rail¬ 
road  make  their  way  with  ease.  The  Hudson-Richelieu 
Valley  is  the  most  noticeable  feature  in  both  the  topography 
and  the  history  of  the  region.  In  the  French  wars,  in  the 
Revolution,  in  the  War  of  1812,  it  was  the  theater  of  impor¬ 
tant  military  operations,  especially  the  northern  half  of  it ; 
and  it  is  certain  to  become  such  a  theater  again  if,  unhappily, 
the  two  powers  that  divide  its  possession  should  again  become 
involved  in  war.  The  Iroquois  Indians  perfectly  understood 
the  importance  of  Lake  Champlain.  They  called  it  “the 
Gate  of  the  Country.” 

Again,  the  Hudson  River  offers  easy  means  of  com¬ 
munication  from  deep  water  to  the  lower  lakes.  The 
effect  of  the  tides  is  felt  as  far  up  as  Albany  ;  and  here  flows 
into  the  Hudson  its  principal  tributary,  the  Mohawk,  which 
leads  up  to  the  low  elevations  that  separate  the  basins  of 
Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie  from  the  Atlantic  Plain  and  the 
Mississippi  Valley. 


NORTH  AMERICA  IN  OUTLINE. 


201 


South  of  the  Hudson  are  several  river  valleys  that  deeply 
indent  the  mountain  mass  :  the  Delaware,  the  Susquehanna, 
the  Potomac,  the  James,  and  the  Savannah.  The  Carolina 
rivers  penetrate  less  deeply,  while  their  mouths  are  muffled 
by  sand  bars  and  islands  formed  of  materials  washed 
down  from  above.  South  of  the  mountains  a  belt  of  land 
runs  east  and  west  along  the  Gulf  Coast,  uniting  the  Atlan¬ 
tic  Plain  with  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

Early  Western  emigration  moved  westward  along  four 
main  lines  of  travel :  1,  the  Hudson-Mohawk  depression, 
leading  to  the  lakes  ;  2,  the  Potomac,  leading  to  the  upper 
Ohio;  3,  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  the  mountain  gaps 
at  its  head,  leading  into  Tennessee  and  Kentucky;  4,  the 
zone  of  low  land  lying  along  the  Gulf.  It  was  by  the  way 
of  the  Potomac  and  the  Valley  of  Virginia  that  emigrants 
first  reached  the  Great  West ;  but  the  first  canal  and  rail¬ 
road  connecting  the  West  and  tide  water  were  constructed 
through  the  Mohawk  Valley. 

The  natural  barriers  separating  the  Lake  Basin  and  the 
Mississippi  Valley  are  much  less  formidable  than  those  that 
we  have  been  considering.  In  Ohio  the  canal  summits  are 
but  four  hundred  feet  above  Lake  Erie  ;  in  Indiana  the  water 
partings  are  still  lower  ;  while  in  early  days  boatmen,  in 
times  of  high  water,  sometimes  poled  rafts  and  fiat-bottomed 
boats  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Des  Plaines  and  Illinois 
Rivers.  In  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  the  portages  are  fre¬ 
quent  and  easy,  and  boats  may  still  be  pushed  from  the  Min¬ 
nesota  into  the  Red  River  of  the  North. 

Perhaps  the  easy  transits  between  the  four  great  drainage 
areas  can  be  presented  still  more  strongly.  So  complete  is 
the  break  made  by  the  Hudson-Mohawk  system  in  the  moun¬ 
tain  wall  that  a  sinking  of  land  to  an  amount  of  only  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  would  isolate  from  the  rest  of  the 
continent  all  of  New  England  and  that  part  of  Canada  lying 
to  the  southeast  of  the  St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  the  extrem¬ 
ity  of  Gaspe.  A  further  sinking  of  two  hundred  and  eighty 
feet  would  open  a  water-way  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Great 
15 


202 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Lakes,  and  leave  the  mass  of  the  Adirondacks  as  an  island 
lying  adjacent  to  New  England  on  the  east  and  the  Appa¬ 
lachian  land  mass  on  the  south.  A  depression  of  live  hun¬ 
dred  feet  would  cause  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  set  back  to  Cin¬ 
cinnati  and  Burlington,  and  almost  to  Chicago  and  Jefferson 
City.  A  depression  of  one  thousand  feet  would  unite  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  and  one  of  two  thou¬ 
sand  feet  would  overwhelm  all  the  watersheds  east  of  the 
Kocky  Mountains  except  the  upper  parts  of  the  Appalachians, 
and  probably  the  Laurentian  Hills. 

The  eastern  side  of  North  America  is  its  open  and  ap¬ 
proachable  side.  The  Atlantic,  as  compared  with  the  Pa¬ 
cific,  is  a  narrow  ocean.  Moreover,  off  the  shore  are  numer¬ 
ous  islands  that  not  only  held  out  their  own  attractions  to 
navigators  and  planters  two  and  a  half  centuries  ago,  but 
also  afforded  them  convenient  resting  places  on  their  way  to 
the  mainland  :  Newfoundland,  the  Bermudas,  the  Bahamas, 
and  the  Antilles. 

It  would  be  hard  to  exaggerate  the  historical  consequence 
of  the  facts  that  have  been  set  forth.  They  furnish  the  ex¬ 
planation,  in  so  far  as  natural  facts  ever  explain  such  things, 
of  many  interesting  matters  of  history.  They  help  to  ex¬ 
plain  the  all-important  fact  that  North  America  became  a 
historical  dependency  of  Europe,  and  not  of  Asia.  They 
throw  a  fiood  of  light  upon  the  first  division  of  the  continent 
among  Spain,  England,  and  France,  on  the  course  and  or 
der  of  discovery  and  exploration,  and  on  the  struggles  of 
those  powers  for  territorial  dominion.  They  account  for 
the  extraordinary  territorial  expansion  of  the  United  States 
and  their  political  unity.  They  enable  us  to  understand  the 
astonishing  rapidity  of  Western  settlements,  and  the  equally 
astonishing  celerity  with  which  the  artificial  channels  of 
travel  and  trade  were  constructed  which  now  bind  the  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  country  together  with  bonds  stronger  than  those 
of  nature.  They  are  the  sure  pledge  of  our  future  territorial 
and  political  integrity.  As  another  has  said  :  “  Areas  iso¬ 
lated  by  their  natural  features  were,  before  modern  methods 


NORTH  AMERICA  IN  OUTLINE. 


203 


of  transportation  had  practically  destroyed  all  natural  bar¬ 
riers,  adapted  to  be  the  cradle  of  permanent  and  strong  races. 
Europe  has  been  in  all  times  pecubarJy  divided  up  into  such 
areas  ;  hence  the  multiplicity  of  its  political  divisions  and  the 
fixity  of  the  characteristics  of  the  separate  peoples  which 
have  inhabited  them.  North  America,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  unfitted  to  be  the  cradle  place  of  different  peoples  ;  its 
continent  is  in  the  main  a  geographical  unit.” 

Such  a  sketch  map  as  the  foregoing  will  serve  the  teacher 
as  a  geographical  framework  for  the  distribution  of  the  larger 
facts  of  our  history.  He  will  need,  however,  to  add  addi¬ 
tional  features  relating  to  climate  and  natural  productions. 
He  can  make  the  map  more  minute  when  he  has  passed 
beyond  general  outlines  and  entered  upon  details.  For 
example,  he  can  place  the  Ohio  Valley  in  situ  when  deal¬ 
ing  with  the  French  and  Indian  War;  the  Rio  Grande, 
when  teaching  the  war  with  Mexico  ;  the  Cumberland  and 
Tennessee,  in  connection  with  the  campaigns  of  Sherman 
and  Grant. 

Every  competent  teacher  of  American  history  must  carry 
in  his  mind  a  sketch  map  of  the  continent,  and  he  must 
steadily  aim  to  develop  one  in  the  minds  of  his  pupils ;  but 
it  will  not  come  amiss  again  to  remind  him  that  conspec¬ 
tuses,  or  bird’s-eye  views,  of  large  subjects  belong  rather  to 
the  later  than  to  the  earlier  stages  of  study. 


Note. — Distribution  of  Population  by  Drainage  Basins :  Percentage  of 
Population. 


DIVISIONS. 

1890. 

1880. 

1870. 

Atlantic  Ocean . 

96-2 

97-1 

97*8 

N  ew  England  coast . 

7*2 

7*6 

8*5 

Middle  Atlantic  coast . 

18*3 

19*2 

20*8 

South  Atlantic  coast . 

6-8 

7*4 

7*3 

Great  Lakes . 

11-2 

10*7 

11*0 

Gulf  of  Mexico . 

52-7 

52*2 

50*2 

Great  Basin . 

*4 

•4 

•*3 

Pacific  Ocean . 

3-4 

2*5 

1*9 

— I.  Census  Bulletin,  No.  47. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 

References, — Bancroft,  Hildreth,  Bryant  and  Gay,  and  Winsor : 
Previous  references ;  Parkman :  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New 
World,  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of 
the  Great  West,  The  Old  Regime  in  Canada,  Count  Frontenac  and 
France  under  Louis  XI V,  A  Half  Century  of  Conflict,  Montcalm 
and  Wolfe ;  Doyle,  Thwaites,  and  Lodge :  Previous  references ; 
Roberts:  New  York;  Robinson:  Vermont;  Cooley:  Michigan  (the 
last  three  works  in  the  Commonwealth  Series) ;  Campbell :  Outlines 
of  the  Political  History  of  Michigan. 

On  the  papal  bulls  and  right  of  discovery — Fiske :  The  Discovery 
of  the  New  World  (Vol.  L,  p.  454,  Vol.  II.,  Appendix  B);  Winsor: 
The  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America  {passim) ;  Bourne : 
Papers  of  the  American  Historical  Association  (IV.,  169;  The  his¬ 
tory  and  determination  of  the  line  of  demarcation  established  by 
Pope  Alexander  VI  between  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  flelds  of 
discovery  and  colonization) ;  Scaife  :  Annual  Report  of  the  American 
Historical  Association  for  the  Year  1891,  p.  103.  (The  development 
of  international  law  as  to  newly  discovered  territory) ;  Brown  :  The 
Genesis  of  the  United  States  (Preface,  Introductory  Sketch,  1485- 
1607) ;  Phillimore :  Commentaries  upon  International  Law,  Part  III., 
Chap.  XII.;  Lieber:  Miscellaneous  Writings,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  26-28; 
Poore:  Charters  and  Constitutions,  Vol.  L,  p.  304;  Hinsdale:  Ohio 
Archaeological  and  Historical  Quarterly,  December,  1888  (The  Right 
of  Discovery). 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  Pope  of  Rome,  as  supreme 
arbiter  of  the  world,  assumed  to  be  the  custodian  and  dis¬ 
penser  of  all  heathen  lands.  Acting  in  this  capacity,  Nico¬ 
las  V,  in  1454,  gave  to  the  crown  of  Portugal,  in  perpetuity, 


THE  colonization  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


205 


whatever  such  lands  she  might  discover  from  Cape  Bojador, 
on  the  African  coast,  eastward  to  and  including  the  Indies. 
Upon  the  return  of  Columbus,  in  1493,  Alexander  VI,  on 
the  application  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  for  a  similar  dota¬ 
tion  in  the  West,  issued  two  bulls,  dated  May  3  and  4,  1493, 
that,  taken  in  connection  with  those  previously  issued  in  the 
interest  of  Portugal,  had  this  effect :  They  gave  to  Spain  all 
heathen  lands  that  she  had  already  discovered  or  might 
thereafter  discover,  lying  west  of  a  line  drawn  one  hundred 
leagues  beyond  the  Azores,  or  the  Cape  Verd  Islands,  and 
confirmed  to  Portugal  all  such  lands  lying  east  of  that  line 
This  division  did  not  please  King  John  of  Portugal,  and  so 
the  two  powers,  in  1494,  entered  into  a  treaty — commonly 
called  the  Treaty  of  Tordesillas,  from  the  place  where  it  was 
negotiated,  but  sometimes  the  Treaty  for  the  Partition  of  the 
Ocean,  from  its  subject-matter — that  drew  the  line  of  demar¬ 
cation  three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues  west  of  the  Azores, 
but  that  did  not  otherwise  disturb  the  papal  arrangements. 
This  treaty  the  two  powers,  supported  by  the  Pope,  who  duly 
ratified  it,  strove  earnestly  to  carry  out.  But  the  other 
Western  maritime  powers,  disregarding  the  treaty  and  also 
the  papal  bulls,  entered  into  the  competition  of  discovery, 
and  ultimately  Spain  and  Portugal  were  compelled  to  aban¬ 
don  their  exclusive  claims  and  to  admit  France,  England, 
and  Holland  to  the  possession  of  shares  in  the  Western 
World.  The  Pope’s  bulls  were  finally  abandoned,  and  the 
right  of  discovery  became  the  sole  ground  of  title.  When 
fully  developed  this  right  embraced  the  following  features  : 
1.  The  Christian  nation  that  discovers  a  heathen  land 
owns  it  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  Christian  nations.  2. 
This  nation  must  complete  its  title  within  a  reasonable  time 
by  occupying  and  using  this  land.  3.  The  native  inhab¬ 
itants  are  the  occupants  of  the  land  only.  We  are  now  to 
see  bow  this  rule  was  applied  in  making  the  first  division  of 
North  America.  While  the  papal  bulls  were  set  aside  yet 
their  influence  was  great  on  the  course  of  history. 


206 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


I.  The  Spaniards  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Spain  took  prompt  possession  of  the  islands  at  the  en¬ 
trance  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, and  at  once  made  them  a  base 
of  operations  for  further  discovery  and  colonization.  In 
1498  Columbus  discovered  the  South  American  coast  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco  River,  and  in  twenty  years  from 
that  time  Spanish  discoverers  had  traced  out,  in  a  general 
way,  the  whole  coast  from  that  point  to  the  Carolinas.  In 
1513  Ponce  de  Leon  discovered  and  named  the  Peninsula  of 
ll^lorida.  In  1519  Cortez  began  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  and 
in  1536  Pizarro  that  of  Peru.  In  1539  De  Soto  began  his 
long  march  through  the  country  north  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  searching  for  a  throne  like  that  of  Montezuma,  and 
for  riches  like  the  riches  of  Mexico.  In  1540  Coronado  be¬ 
gan  his  quest  for  the  Seven  Cities  of  Cibola.  De  Soto  started 
from  Tampa  Bay,  Coronado  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  both 
explorers,  who  penetrated  the  Missouri  River  region  before 
returning,  were  unsuccessful.  Besides  seating  herself  firmly 
in  Mexico  and  in  Peru,  Spain  established  lines  of  communi¬ 
cation  across  the  continent  and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  reaching 
to  the  Indies. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  Spain  had  the  best  opportunity 
ever  presented  to  any  nation  to  take  possession  of  and  to 
hold  the  Mississippi  Valley.  She  held  the  keys  to  the  Gulf, 
from  which  she  strove  to  exclude  all  other  powers.  By  dis¬ 
covering  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Gulf,  and 
particularly  of  the  Mississippi,  she  laid  a  foundation  for  a 
title  to  the  vast  region  lying  between  the  Appalachian  and 
the  Cordilleran  mountain  systems.  The  portal  of  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi  stood  always  open  to  admit  her  ships,  and  there  was 
no  European  power  that  could  prevent,  or  for  the  time 
wished  to  prevent,  her  completing  her  title  by  occupation. 
The  Lake  and  St.  Lawrence  region  was  more  accessible  from 
the  south  than  the  Mississippi  Valley  was  from  the  north,  be¬ 
cause  the  Mississippi  has  less  obstruction  from  ice.  And  yet 
Spain  did  not  improve  her  great  opportunity  ;  in  fact,  down 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  207 


to  1682  she  had  done  nothing*  toward  taking  possession  of 
the  country  lying  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Rio  Grande 
but  to  found  St.  Augustine,  in  1565,  and  Santa  Fe,  in  1582. 
While  we  congratulate  ourselves  on  the  failure  of  Spain  to 
plant  her  civilization  in  the  Great  West,  we  should  inquire 
into  its  causes. 

These  causes  are  few  and  simple.  The  master  forces  that 
moved  the  Spaniards  in  their  American  undertakings  were 
lust  for  gold  and  silver  and  for  political  and  military  power. 
The  notion  that  the  precious  metals  are  the  only  real  wealth, 
which  was  then  universally  received,  had  such  a  hold  of 
their  minds  that  they  despised  ordinary  industry  and  trade 
in  comparison ;  and  when  De  Soto  and  Coronado  had  failed 
to  find  what  they  so  eagerly  sought  in  the  regions  that  they 
visited,  those  regions  lost  all  immediate  interest  for  their 
countrymen.  Probably  the  men  who  presided  over  Spain’s 
interests  in  the  New  World  thought  the  time  would  come 
when  the  Mississippi  would  be  valuable  ;  but  for  the  time 
being  that  river  had  no  value  in  comparison  with  the  metal- 
producing  countries  of  the  Aztecs  and  the  Peruvians.  Thus 
the  mines  of  those  countries  held  the  richest  valley  in  the 
world  in  pledge,  first  for  France,  but  ultimately  for  the 
United  States.  However,  another  motive  power  must  be 
mentioned.  In  the  long  struggle  between  Christianity  and 
Mohammedanism  great  zeal  for  proselyting  the  infidel  and 
the  heathen  had  been  developed  among  the  peoples  of 
Southern  Europe.  But  while  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Indians  was  a  considerable  factor  in  Spanish  exploration 
and  colonization,  still  of  itself  it  was  not  strong  enough 
to  carry  them  into  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  Spaniards 
cut  a  far  more  picturesque  figure  than  the  English  in  the 
pages  of  early  American  history ;  what  they  did,  one  has 
said,  “  was  poetry  in  action,  the  knight-errantry  of  the  Old 
World  carried  into  the  depths  of  the  American  wilderness  ” ; 
but  they  lacked  the  substantial  qualities  that  fitted  them  to 
receive  so  great  a  heritage  as  the  Mississippi  Valley.  In 
truth,  Spain  took  little  interest  in  Florida  save  as  its  pos- 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


208 

session  was  necessary  to  the  mastery  of  the  islands  of  the 
Gulf  and  to  the  control  of  the  sea  routes  leading  from  the 
Spanish  ports  to  Vera  Cruz  and  Cartagena.  St.  Augustine 
was  a  bulwark  of  both  the  West  Indian  and  the  East  Indian 
seas.  This  explains  the  vigor  with  which  Spain  drove  the 
Huguenots  out  of  the  peninsula,  and  the  firmness  with  which 
she  resisted  the  advance  of  the  English  toward  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

II.  The  French  in  the  Lake  and  St.  Lawrence  Basin. 

At  first  France  claimed  the  whole  front  of  the  continent 
north  of  Florida,  basing  her  claim  upon  Verrazzano’s  voyage 
of  1524,  but  in  the  end  she  abandoned  the  southern  and  cen¬ 
tral  parts  of  it  to  her  competitors.  Her  first  permanent  col¬ 
ony  was  Port  Royal,  now  Annapolis,  planted  in  1605.  But 
Champlain  persuaded  the  King  of  France  that  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence,  to  which  Cartier’s  voyages  of  1534, 1535,  and  1540  had 
given  him  a  title,  was  the  proper  center  of  his  American 
empire.  So  Champlain  was  commissioned  to  effect  the 
necessary  change  of  base,  and  in  doing  so  he  won  the  title, 
Father  of  New  France.”  How  wisely  he  had  judged,  a 
general  view  of  the  ideas  and  motives  of  the  French  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  opportunities  that  the  St.  Lawrence  opened 
to  them  will  show.  These  ideas  were  the  glory  of  France, 
the  fur  trade,  and  the  salvation  of  the  savages.  Sometimes 
these  ideas  were  all  embodied  in  the  same  man ;  hut  properly 
the  discoverer,  explorer,  or  soldier  stood  for  political  and 
military  dominion,  the  hunter  and  trader  for  the  Indian 
trade,  and  the  priest  for  Indian  missions. 

Champlain  founded  Quebec  in  1608.  The  next  year  he 
ascended  the  Richelieu,  and  discovered  the  lake  to  which  he 
gave  his  name.  His  plan  was  to  bring  within  the  circle  of 
French  colonization  and  influence  the  whole  region  extend¬ 
ing  southward  from  the  St.  Lawrence  toward  the  mouth  of 
the  Hudson.  But,  unfortunately  for  his  purposes,  he  en¬ 
countered  a  war  party  of  the  Mohawk  Indians  near  the 
head  of  the  lake  ;  and  although  he  defeated  them  in  battle, 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


20^ 


he  was  so  impressed  by  the  prowess  that  they  had  shown,  by 
what  he  heard  of  the  confederacy  to  which  they  belonged, 
and  by  the  hostility  of  this  confederacy  toward  the  Indians 
of  the  north,  who  were  his  allies,  that  on  his  return  to  Que¬ 
bec  he  changed  his  policy.  Had  he  succeeded  in  his  first 
purpose,  France  would  have  seated  herself  on  the  streams 
that  fiow  to  the  lower  lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  to  New 
York,  Delaware,  and  Chesapeake  Bays,  and  to  the  Ohio  River. 
Both  General  Scott  and  General  Grant,  it  is  said,  have  called 
this  region  the  key  to  the  continent  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
Had  France  seized  it,  we  know  not  with  what  dijBdculty  it 
would  have  been  wrenched  from  her  hand,  if  at  all.  The 
Indian  skirmish,  so  far  as  we  can  tell,  alone  prevented  this 
issue.  Still  more,  this  skirmish  was  the  beginning  of  the 
long  hostility  of  the  Iroquois  toward  the  French,  which  is 
such  an  important  factor  in  our  history.  It  is  also  worthy 
of  remark  that  this  formidable  confederation  owed  its 
power  to  the  great  advantages  of  its  position,  as  well  as  to 
its  statesmanship  and  valor.  Not  only  were  its  lands  pro¬ 
ductive,  but  the  Confederates  could,  within  their  own  terri¬ 
tories  in  central  New  York,  launch  their  canoes  on  waters 
that  would  bear  them  to  any  point  of  the  compass.  Hence 
it  was  in  great  part  that  they  were  able  to  carry  the  terror 
of  their  arms  to  the  Carolinas,  the  Tennessee,  and  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi,  to  the  upper  lakes,  and  the  lower  St.  Lawrence. 

Champlain’s  second  plan  was  to  explore  and  to  bring 
within  the  circle  of  French  influence  the  country  north  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  Here  furs  were  more  abundant  than  in 
the  south,  and  the  savages,  who  proved  friendly  to  the 
French  and  were  hostile  to  the  Iroquois,  stood  in  equal  need 
of  salvation. 

Montreal,  situated  on  the  St.  Lawrence  near  the  mouths 
of  the  Richelieu  and  the  Ottawa,  dates  from  the  vear  1611. 
In  1615  Champlain  ascended  the  Ottawa,  crossed  the  por¬ 
tage  to  Lake  Nipissing,  and  made  his  way  by  French  River 
and  Georgian  Bay  to  Lake  Huron.  On  his  return  to  Que¬ 
bec  the  next  year  he  discovered  Lake  Ontario.  The  Ottawa 


210 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


was  the  thoroughfare  by  which  the  Indians  were  accustomed 
to  pass  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  upper  lakes.  It 
was  comparatively  free  from  the  incursions  of  the  Iroquois  ; 
it  lay  through  a  friendly  country,  and  it  was  much  shorter 
than  the  road  by  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  lower  lakes. 
Naturally,  therefore,  it  long  continued  the  great  route  by 
which  the  French  passed  and  repassed  between  their  posts 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Northwest.  A  well-known 
geologist  who  has  recently  visited  parts  of  this  route  says 
it  is  “  exciting  to  see  with  our  own  eyes  direct  evidence  that 
the  engineers  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railroad,  when  fol¬ 
lowing  the  trail  of  Champlain.  .  .  were  not  only  paying 
tribute  to  the  skill  of  the  Indians  in  selecting  the  lowest 
passes  from  one  valley  to  another,  hut  were  also  unsuspect- 
edly  utilizing  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  Nature’s  high¬ 
ways.” 

In  1629  Brule  visited  Lake  Superior.  In  1634  Nicolet 
passed  through  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw  and  discovered  Lake 
Michigan  and  Green  Bay.  In  1659-’60  Groseilliers  and 
Radisson  reached  the  country  beyond  the  head  of  Lake 
Superior.  The  French  first  heard  of  Lake  Erie  about  1640  ; 
but  it  was  not  until  1669  that  Joliet,  on  returning  from  Lake 
Superior,  descended  the  water  connection  between  Lake 
Huron  and  Lake  Erie,  and  thus  demonstrated  the  connec¬ 
tion  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  lakes.  In  1671,  Saint- 
Lusson,  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  acting  in  the  name  of  Louis 
XIV  of  France,  took  formal  possession  of  the  lakes,  rivers, 
and  islands  of  the  Northwest,  extending  to  the  sea  in  every 
direction.  About  the  same  time  La  Salle  discovered  the 
Ohio.  In  1673  Marquette  and  Joliet,  starting  from  Green 
Bay,  ascended  Fox  River,  crossed  the  portage,  descended  the 
Wisconsin  to  the  Mississippi,  down  which  they  floated  until 
they  had  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  and  satisfied 
themselves  that  the  river  did  not  flow  to  the  Gulf  of  Cali¬ 
fornia  or  to  Chesapeake  Bay,  but  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ; 
then  they  returned  to  the  North  by  the  Illinois  River  and 
Lake  Michigan.  In  the  winter  of  1679-80  La  Salle  ascended 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


211 


the  St.  Joseph,  crossed  to  the  Kankakee,  and.  pad.dled  his 
way  down  the  Illinois  to  Peoria  Lake.  Two  years  later  the 
same  intrepid  explorer  descended  the  Illinois  and  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  On  April  9,  1682,  he  took  pos¬ 
session  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  in  the  name  of  his  royal 
master,  Louis  XIV.  About  the  same  time  Hennepin  made 
further  discoveries  in  the  region  of  the  upper  Mississippi. 
In  1742-’43  the  brothers  La  Verendrye,  starting  from  the 
French  settlements  in  the  Winnipeg  country,  conducted  an 
expedition  westward,  in  the  course  of  which  they  discovered 
the  Rocky  Mountains.* 

While  this  bare  outline  sacrifices  all  the  interest  and 
charm  of  French  discovery  and  exploration,  it  answers  the 
present  purpose.  Never  did  a  great  opportunity  of  the  kind 
fall  into  hands  better  fitted  to  make  the  most  of  it.  No 
sooner  had  the  French  made  their  feeble  beginnings  on  the 
St.  Lawrence,  than  they  pierced  the  center  of  the  chain  of 
the  Great  Lakes,  pushed  their  discoveries  to  their  farthest 
limits,  crossed  the  easy  portages  connecting  the  interlocked 
systems  of  waters,  and  made  their  way  to  the  Rocky  Moun¬ 
tains  and  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  This  they  did  in  the  short 
space  of  seventy-four  years,  with  a  powerful  savage  foe  con¬ 
stantly  hanging  upon  their  flank  and  rear.  Had  such  a 
mountain  system  as  the  Appalachian  stood  along  the  south¬ 
ern  margin  of  the  Lake  Basin,  no  man  can  conjecture  in  what 
different  lines  early  American  history  might  have  run. 

Wherever  they  went  the  French  took  such  pains  as  they 
thought  necessary  to  secure  and  hold  the  country.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  missions  were  established  among  the  Hurons  in  1615, 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  in  1668,  at  Mackinaw  in  1671,  and  also  at 
St.  Esprit,  near  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  and  at  Green 
Bay.  These  missions  answered  as  well  the  purposes  of  trad- 
ing  posts  and  military  stations,  thus  illustrating  the  close 
connection  of  the  three  ideas  lying  at  the  foundation  of  New 
France. 

*  The  southern  continuation  of  these  mountains  had  long  been  known 
to  the  Spaniards. 


212 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Ill,  The  English  on  the  Atlantic  Plain. 

The  English  rested  their  claim  to  the  Atlantic  Plain  on 
the  Cabot  voyages  of  1497  and  1498.  The  evidence  tends  to 
show  that  Spain  never  claimed  the  country  north  of  the 
forty -fourth  parallel,  and  that  England  for  nearly  a  century 
showed  no  disposition  to  intrude  south  of  that  line.  But  in 
1580,  on  the  return  of  Sir  Francis  Drake  from  his  voyage 
around  the  world.  Queen  Elizabeth’s  government  informed 
the  King  of  Spain  that  it  could  not  acknowledge  the  Spanish 
right  to  all  that  country,  either  by  donation  by  the  Pope  or 
from  their  having  touched  here  and  there  upon  those  coasts. 
From  this  time  England  was  a  strong  advocate  of  posses¬ 
sion  or  use  as  a  factor  in  the  right  of  discovery.  She 
now  entered  into  competition  with  Spain  south  of  the  44® 
line.  Sir  Walter  Paleigh’s  attempts  to  plant  colonies  failed, 
hut  Jamestown  and  Plymouth  proved  successful.  In  1526, 
and  again  in  1570,  Spain  had  attempted  to  occupy  Chesa¬ 
peake  Bay,  hut  fortunately  failed.  In  1611  a  Spanish  armed 
force  hovered  off  Jamestown,  but,  learning  that  the  settle¬ 
ment  would  probably  perish  of  disease  and  famine  if  let 
alone,  it  sailed  away  without  molesting  the  feeble  colony. 
Progressively,  England  occupied  the  coast  from  Maine  to 
Florida,  Georgia,  the  last  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  owing  its 
existence  in  part  to  the  felt  need  of  a  bulwark  between  the 
Spaniards  and  the  Carolinas.  Spain  steadily  resisted  the 
southward  extension  of  the  English  colonies,  and  no  definite 
line  of  demarcation  between  them  and  Florida  had  been 
fixed  down  to  1763. 

While  the  English  laid  a  firm  hand  upon  the  Atlantic 
Plain,  they  were  very  slow  in  finding  their  way  toward  the 
mountains  that  separated  them  from  the  interior  of  the 
continent.  The  Virginians  did  not  discover  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  until  1716,  and  they  did  not  plant  a  settlement  on  the 
waters  flowing  to  the  Mississippi  until  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Englishmen  bore  no  part  or  lot  in  the 
discovery  and  exploration  of  the  Great  West.  Why  did 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  213 

they  so  lon^  linger  almost  within  cannon  shot  of  the  shore 
line  ?  Why  did  they  not  sooner  enter  into  the  Western  com¬ 
petition  with  the  French  ? 

In  the  first  place,  what  the  Indians  called  “  the  Endless 
Mountains  ”  for  a  long  time  effectually  stopped  their  west¬ 
ward  progress.  In  dealing  with  this  subject,  Professor 
Shaler  remarks  that,  although  the  Appalachian  peaks  are 
not  of  great  height,  their  ranges  are  singularly  continuous, 
and  that  the  passes  did  not  afford  for  the  pioneer  any  natu¬ 
ral  means  of  passage  ;  he  must  climb  over  the  mountain 
ridges.  Then,  from  Maine  to  Alabama  the  forests  were 
dense  and  unbroken,  while  the  ground  north  of  central 
Pennsylvania  was  strewn  thick  with  bowlders.  The  Appa¬ 
lachians’  barrier  of  forest  and  mountain,  he  says,  was  almost 
as  impassable  as  the  Alps.  In  the  North,  the  Hudson  and 
Mohawk  Valleys  offered  a  comparatively  easy  path  to  the 
lower  lakes,  although  the  Mohawk  is  not  a  navigable  stream, 
but  potent  causes  long  prevented  its  utilization.  In  the 
second  place,  the  mountains  served  to  confirm  Englishmen 
in  the  opinion,  which  was  early  formed,  that  North  America 
was  a  long  but  narrow  island  lying  between  two  oceans.  But 
the  third  cause  was  more  powerful  than  both  the  others  ;  it 
was  the  fundamental  ideas  or  motives  of  the  English  colo^ 
nists.  England  sent  her  cavaliers  to  Virginia,  her  Puritans 
to  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  these  colonies  became  distribut¬ 
ing  centers  for  the  whole  Atlantic  Plain.  While  different 
in  minor  particulars,  the  Northern  and  Southern  colonies 
alike  possessed  the  great  qualities  of  the  English  character. 
They  showed  some  picturesque  features;  they  made  what 
they  could  out  of  the  Indian  trade,  and  took  a  feeble  interest 
in  Indian  evangelization ;  but  they  were  interested  in  indus¬ 
trial,  commercial,  and  political  life  ;  they  created  farms  and 
plantations,  founded  villages  and  towns,  built  ships  in  which 
they  carried  on  deep-sea  fisheries  or  sent  their  products  to 
Europe  or  the  West  Indies,  and,  above  all,  established  free 
commonwealths  on  the  English  model.  Englishmen  had 
been  much  less  affected  than  the  Spaniards  and  Frenchmen 


214 


HOW  ,TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


by  the  Mohammedan  conflict;  they  were  already  beg-inning 
to  break  up  into  a  diversity  of  churches  and  sects,  and  so  it 
was  perfectly  natural  that  the  characteristic  religious  feature 
of  the  English  colonies  was  not  zeal  for  the  souls  of  the  In¬ 
dians,  but  zeal  for  religious  freedom  and  the  rights  of  con¬ 
science  for  themselves,  as  in  New  England  and  Maryland. 
While  the  life  of  the  New  England  villagers,  the  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  farmers,  and  the  Virginia  planters  was 
tame  and  prosaic  as  compared  with  the  life  of  New  France  or 
of  New  Spain,  it  was  stronger,  more  modern,  more  permanent, 
having  the  promise  of  the  future  of  the  continent.  Mr. 
LoweU  tells  us  that,  “  looked  at  on  the  outside,  New  Eng¬ 
land  history  is  dry  and  unpicturesque.  There  is  no  rustle 
of  silks,  no  waving  of  plumes,  no  clink  of  golden  spurs. 
Our  sympathies  are  not  awakened  by  the  changeful  des¬ 
tinies,  the  rise  and  fall  of  great  families,  whose  doom  is  in 
their  blood.  Instead  of  all  this,  we  have  the  homespun 
fates  of  Cephas  and  Prudence  repeated  in  an  infinite  series 
of  peaceable  sameness,  and  finding  space  enough  for  record 
in  the  family  Bible  ;  we  have  the  noise  of  axe  and  hammer 
and  saw,  an  apotheosis  of  dogged  work,  where,  reversing 
the  fairy  tale,  nothing  is  left  to  luck,  and,  if  there  be 
any  poetry,  it  is  something  that  can  not  be  helped — 
the  waste  of  the  water  over  the  dam.”  And  it  was  New 
England  that  bore  the  brunt  of  the  long  struggle  with 
New  France. 

IV.  The  French  and  the  English  Colonies  in  Contrast. 

It  is  very  pertinent  to  observe  that  the  three  regions 
now  described  harmonized  well  with  the  character  of  the 
three  nationalities  to  which  they  severally  fell,  and  tended 
to  foster  their  ruling  ideas.  The  Spaniard  found  what  he 
sought  in  the  South,  the  Frenchman  in  the  North,  while 
the  Englishman  possessed  the  environment  that  best  suited 
him  on  the  Atlantic  Plain.  History  would  have  run  in 
quite  different  lines  if  the  three  regions  had  been  differ¬ 
ently  distributed.  In  respect  to  the  French  and  the  Eng- 


THE  COLONIZATION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


215 


lish  colonies  the  parallel  should  he  traced  a  little  dis¬ 
tance. 

How  advantageous  the  French  position  was  for  carrying 
on  exploration,  the  fur  trade,  and  Indian  missions  we  have 
seen  already.  The  opportunities  of  the  French  developed 
resource,  capacity  for  dealing  with  the  savages,  hardihood 
and  romance,  but  they  did  not  develop  either  a  numerous 
people  or  a  strong  state.  New  France  was  founded  by  com¬ 
mercial  companies,  but  it  soon  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Crown.  Planted  by  power  and  nourished  by  patronage,  it 
never  became  self-sufficing,  but  always  continued  a  tax 
upon  the  mother  country.  Both  the  virtues  and  the  vices 
of  absolutism  flourished  :  courage,  devotion,  and  chivalry  ; 
ignorance,  corruption,  and  dependence.  The  population  in¬ 
creased  very  slowly,  and  was  thinly  scattered  through  vast 
wildernesses,  where  much  of  its  strength  was  lost.  Even 
the  St.  Lawrence  settlements  were  few,  smaU,  and  widely 
separated.  Such  were  the  attractions  of  the  woods  and  the 
waters  for  the  Canadians  that  large  numbers  of  them  adopt¬ 
ed  a  forest  life  much  like  that  of  the  Indians — becoming 
hunters,  or  coureurs  de  hois — thus  adding  to  the  picturesque¬ 
ness  of  Canada,  but  also  constantly  draining  away  its  life¬ 
blood.  These  tendencies  were  further  stimulated  by  facts 
yet  to  be  mentioned. 

In  respect  to  regular  and  productive  industry,  the  French 
colonists  were  at  a  disadvantage  as  compared  with  their  Eng¬ 
lish  competitors.  In  marking  the  contrast  Professor  Shaler 
states  the  following  points  : 

1.  The  rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  cataract  of  Niagara, 
and  the  storms  of  the  Great  Lakes  which  have  few  natural 
harbors,  and,  moreover,  the  cold  that  closes  up  these  bodies  of 
water  flve  months  of  every  year,  were  a  decided  drawback 
to  the  advantages  that  the  great  Northern  water-way  would 
otherwise  have  offered. 

2.  The  long  and  severe  winters,  which  limited  the  time 
that  could  be  given  to  tillage,  and  made  the  keeping  of  do¬ 
mestic  animals  difficult,  were  a  great  hindrance. 


216 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


3.  The  soil  of  Canada  consisted  of  drift,  and  could  be 
fitted  for  tillage  only  by  a  great  amount  of  labor.  To  clear 
.away  the  stones,  to  say  nothing  of  cutting  away  the  forests, 
was  a  costly  process.  Then  the  St.  Lawrence  lands  were  far 
inferior  in  quality  to  those  farther  south. 

4.  The  French  beginnings  lay  north  of  the  corn-pro¬ 
ducing  region,  so  that  the  people  were  without  that 
cheap  and  nutritious  food.  At  the  South  this  grain  and 
its  universal  concomitant  long  furnished  the  food  sta¬ 
ples.  “Maize  fields,  with  pumpkin  vines  in  the  inter¬ 
stices  of  the  plants,  became  for  many  years  the  pre¬ 
vailing,  indeed  almost  the  only,  crop  throughout  the 
northern  part  of  America.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to 
say  that,  but  for  these  American  plants  and  the  Ameri¬ 
can  method  of  tilling  them,  it  would  have  been  decidedly 
more  difficult  to  have  fixed  the  early  colonies  on  this 
shore.” 

5.  Tobacco,  which  did  so  much  to  enrich  some  of  the 
English  colonies,  could  not  be  produced  at  the  North  as  an 
.article  of  commerce.  Nor  was  there  any  other  agricultural 
staple  that  could  take  its  place. 

These  hard  conditions  constantly  tended  to  retard  the 
increase  of  population,  and  also  to  disperse  such  as  there  was 
on  the  shores  where  fish  could  be  caught,  or  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  where  beaver  could  be  trapped.  The  result  was  that 
Canada  grew  up  as  weak  in  industrial,  commercial,  and 
civic  qualities  as  she  was  strong  in  military  qualities  and  in 
adventure.  A  great  community  could  not  be  founded  on 
the  fur  trade. 

On  the  Atlantic  Plain  some  of  the  obstacles  that  the 
French  encountered  were  also  present.  In  the  North  the 
climate  was  severe,  the  drift  extended  as  far  south  as  central 
Pennsylvania,  while  the  forests  were  heavy.  Still,  on  the 
whole,  all  the  forces  that  were  at  work  tended  in  directions 
just  the  opposite  of  those  that  have  been  traced  out :  geo¬ 
graphical  environment,  the  possibilities  of  agriculture  and 
trade,  the  opportunities  for  commerce,  fear  of  the  Indians 


THE  COLONIZATIOX  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  217 


and  the  French,  and  the  character  of  the  people.  Popula¬ 
tion,  instead  of  spreading  into  the  interior,  was  confined  to 
the  shore,  where  it  became  relatively  numerous  and  thick, 
rich  and  prosperous.  There  were  no  English  posts  like  the 
missions  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  St.  Esprit,  no  class  like  the 
coureurs  de  bois.  Hunters  and  Indian  fighters  of  the  type 
of  Boone  and  Kenton,  Wetzel  and  Brady,  did  not  appear 
until  the  Endless  Mountains  had  been  passed.  After  re¬ 
marking  that  the  proselyting  spirit  was  far  weaker  in  Eng¬ 
land  than  on  the  Continent,  while  the  commercial  spirit 
was  far  stronger.  Professor  Shaler  says  the  English  colonies 
in  the  New  World  “  consisted  of  people  who  came  to  stay,  to 
breed  upon  the  ground,  and  to  found  New  En glands  on  the 
foreign  shore.  Though  in  part  led  by  religious  convictions, 
seeking  a  haven  for  peculiar  creeds,  they  were  on  the  whole 
commercially  minded — true  colonists  in  their  intent,  as  were 
the  Greeks  in  their  time,  or  their  ruder  imitators,  the  North¬ 
men,  in  a  later  age.”  The  causes  that  have  been  mentioned 
confined  the  English  colonists  between  the  mountains  and 
the  sea  until,  by  reason  of  their  growth,  strength,  and 
civic  education,  they  had  prepared  themselves  to  contest 
the  possession  of  the  Great  West,  first  with  France  and 
afterward  with  England  and  Spain.  Professor  Shaler  has 
weU  said  : 

There  was  a  certain  advantage  arising  from  the  hemming  in  of 
the  British  colonies  in  North  America  by  the  Appalachian  bound¬ 
ary.  In  place  of  the  detached  settlements  which  characterized  the 
Spanish,  and  more  particularly  the  French  plantations,  the  British 
colonial  establishments  were,  by  their  geographical  conditions, 
compelled  to  develop  in  a  more  connected  way.  It  was  possible 
in  1700  to  ride  from  Portland,  Me.,  to  southern  Virginia,  sleep¬ 
ing  each  night  in  some  considerable  village.  If  our  ancestors  on 
the  continent  had  secured  a  ready  access  to  the  interior,  it  is 
likely  that  a  hundred  years  [more]  would  have  gone  by  before  the 
colonists  became  sufficiently  dense  in  population  to  permit  the 
interactive  life  which  prepared  the  way  for  the  American  Revolu¬ 
tion. 


16 


218 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


There  could  be  no  better  test  of  the  meaning  of  New 
France  and  of  the  meaning  of  the  English  colonies  than  is 
furnished  by  the  statistics  of  their  population.  In  1754  all 
New  France  contained  80,000  white  inhabitants,  the  thirteen 
English  colonies  1,160,000.  The  disparity  in  wealth  must 
have  been  even  greater. 

Physiography  of  the  United  States.  A  series  of  monographs 
prepared  by  specialists  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Geo¬ 
graphic  Society.  These  monographs  are  most  useful  to  the  student 
of  history  as  well  as  to  the  student  of  physical  geography.  Especial 
attention  may  be  directed  to  the  monograph  entitled  The  Northern 
Appalachians,  by  Mr.  Bailey  Willis. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND  IN  NORTH 

AMERICA. 

References. — Bancroft,  Hildreth,  Bryant  and  Gay,  Winsor,  Park- 
man,  Campbell,  Roberts,  Robinson,  and  Cooley :  Previous  references ; 
Fernow :  The  Ohio  Valley  in  Colonial  Days  ;  Fiske  :  American  Po¬ 
litical  Ideas,  pp.  54-56,  125  ;  Chalmers  :  A  Collection  of  Treaties  be¬ 
tween  Great  Britain  and  other  Powers. 

On  the  subjects  treated  in  Chaps.  XIV.-XVIII.,  inclusive,  the 
author  refers  to  his  own  work,  entitled  The  Old  Northwest,  with  a 
View  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies  as  constituted  by  the  Royal  Charters 
(I.  North  America  in  Outline;  II.  The  First  Division  of  North 
America ;  III.  The  French  discover  the  Northwest ;  IV.  The  French 
colonize  the  Northwest;  V.  England  wrests  the  Northwest  from 
France;  VI.-VII.  The  Thirteen  Colonies  as  constituted  by  the 
Royal  Charters;  IX.  The  Northwest  in  the  Revolution;  X.  The 
United  States  wrest  the  Northwest  from  England). 

This  struggle  was  a  necessary  outgrowth  of  causes  that 
lie  upon  the  surface.  First,  the  character  and  interests  of 
the  two  nations  were  so  diverse  that  only  an  occasion  was 
necessary  to  bring  them  into  armed  collision ;  Second,  the 
maritime  discoveries  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
greatly  multiplied  their  points  of  friction;  Third,  the  op¬ 
posite  tendencies  and  characters  of  the  French  and  the  Eng¬ 
lish  colonies  in  America,  and,  fourthly,  their  geographical 
relations,  made  lasting  peace  between  them  impossible. 
Some  leading  features  of  the  long  struggle  will  be  passed  in 
review. 

ArgalPs  exploits  at  Mount  Desert  and  Port  Royal  in  1612, 


-20  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

and  Kirk’s  capture  of  Quebec  in  1629,  require  nothing  more 
than  mention.  Before  the  next  trial  of  arms  the  governors 
of  Canada  had  formed  the  policy  that  they  pursued  to  the 
end,  and  that  must  be  briefly  described. 

Champlain  hoped  that  the  St.  Lawrence  might  prove  a 
road  to  China,  and  La  Salle  for  a  time  saw  the  same  vision. 
But  on  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  and  of  its  general  re¬ 
lations  to  the  Lake  Basin,  to  the  Atlantic  Plain,  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  La  Salle  conceived  a  new  plan.  This  was 
to  make  the  Mississippi  the  center  of  New  France,  with  one 
flank  resting  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  other  on  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  These  extreme  points  should  be 
bound  together  by  a  chain  of  settlements  and  posts  stretch¬ 
ing  through  the  intervening  wilderness.  If  France  could 
hold  the  two  keys  to  the  interior  of  the  continent  and  could 
securely  bind  them  together,  she  could  shut  the  Spaniards 
up  in  Mexico  and  conflne  the  English  to  their  narrow  shore. 
To  carry  out  this  plan  it  was  necessary  to  bring  the  Indians 
of  the  West  within  the  circle  of  French  influence,  and,  since 
the  Iroquois  could  not  be  placated,  to  break  their  power. 
Such  was  the  scheme  that  finally  brought  England  and 
France  into  conflict  in  the  Ohio  Valley  and  on  Lake  On¬ 
tario. 

England  claimed  the  whole  breadth  of  the  continent 
from  Maine  to  Georgia,  but  she  took  no  steps  to  complete 
her  title.  She  had,  in  fact,  no  colonial  policy,  and  long 
trusted  her  interests  to  the  logic  of  events.  As  early  as  1685 
Governor  Dongan,  of  New  York,  divined  the  French  policy 
and  strove  to  frustrate  it.  He  proposed  that  the  English 
should  penetrate  the  Northwest  by  the  Mohawk  Valley  and 
Lake  Erie,  and  thus  inclose  the  French  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
Basin.  In  1686  and  1687  parties  of  English  and  Dutch 
traders,  escorted  by  Iroquois  warriors,  attempted  to  ascend 
to  the  upper  lakes  ;  but  the  French,  although  it  was  a 
time  of  peace,  seized  them  or  turned  them  back  homeward. 
Soon  afterward  the  French  closed  the  passage  from  the  lower 
to  the  upper  lakes.  Moreover,  the  Iroquois  did  not  kindly 


STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND.  221 


brook  the  intrusion  even  of  their  friends  within  their  terri¬ 
tories.  Thus,  the  French  and  the  Iroquois  stopped  the  Eng' 
lish  at  the  North  quite  as  effectually  as  the  mountains  stopped 
them  at  the  South.  Still,  it  must  be  said  that  about  this  time 
originated  the  claim  that  the  Five  Nations  were  subjects  of 
England,  and  so  under  her  protection — a  claim  out  of  which 
great  results  afterward  grew.  The  commission  of  Andros, 
who  succeeded  Dongan  as  Governor  of  New  York,  embraced 
the  whole  country  reaching  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Warlike  operations  in  the  time  of  Argali  and  Kirk  were 
necessarily  confined  to  the  water.  King  William’s  War, 
(1689-’97)  reveals  some  new  features.  The  French  and  In¬ 
dians,  moving  along  the  water  courses  and  through  the  de¬ 
files  of  the  wilderness,  for  the  first  time  fell  upon  and 
destroyed  outlying  English  settlements.*  The  New  Eng¬ 
land  colonies  and  New  York  attempted  to  dispatch  a  feeble 
force  against  Montreal,  but  it  did  not  go  beyond  the  head  of 
Lake  Champlain.  A  French  expedition  projected  against 
Albany  and  New  York  also  came  to  nothing.  Thus  early 
did  the  rival  colonies  find  the  great  cleft  of  the  mountain 


*  Mr.  R.  E.  Robinson,  author  of  Vermont,  in  the  Commonwealth  Series, 
has  graphically  described  the  northern  highway  of  war.  “  Difterent  routes 
were  taken  by  the  predatory  bands  in  their  descents  upon  the  frontiers  of 
New  England.  One  was  by  the  St.  Francis  River  and  Lake  Memphrema- 
gog,  thence  to  the  Passumpsic,  and  down  that  river  to  the  Connecticut,  that 
gave  an  easy  route  to  the  settlements.  Another  was  up  the  Winooski  and 
down  White  River  to  the  Connecticut.  Another  left  Lake  Champlain  at 
the  mouth  of  Great  Otter  Creek  ;  then  up  its  slow  lower  reaches  to  where 
it  becomes  a  swift  mountain  stream,  when  the  trail  led  to  West  River,  or 
Wantasticook,  emptying  into  the  Connecticut.  And  still  another  way  to 
West  River  and  the  Connecticut  was  from  the  head  of  the  lake  up  the 
Pawlet  River.  Of  these  routes,  that  by  the  Winooski  was  so  frequently 
taken  that  the  English  named  the  stream  the  French  River;  while  that  of 
which  Otter  Creek  was  a  part,  being  the  easiest  and  the  nearest  to  Crown 
Point,  was  perhaps  the  oftenest  used,  and  was  commonly  known  as  the  ‘  In¬ 
dian  road.’  All  these  warpaths,  familiar  to  every  Waubanakee  warrior 
with  every  stream  and  landmark  bearing  names  which  his  fathers  had 
given  them,  led  through  Vermont,  then  only  known  to  English-speaking 
men  as  ‘  The  Wilderness.’  ” — (Pages  10, 11.) 


222 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


system  extending  from  New  York  Bay  to  the  St.  Lawrence, 
which  has  been  a  highway  of  war  ever  since  whenever  the 
people  of  the  two  regions  have  been  engaged  in  hostilities. 
In  1696  Fort  Frontenac  was  built,  where  Kingston  now 
stands — or  rather  it  was  rebuilt,  for  it  had  once  been  de¬ 
stroyed.  The  purpose  of  the  Governor  of  Canada  in  build¬ 
ing  this  post  was  to  secure  the  alliance  of  the  friendly  Indi¬ 
ans,  to  overawe  the  Iroquois,  to  carry  on  the  fur  trade,  and 
to  command  the  outlet  to  Lake  Ontario.  It  played  an  im¬ 
portant  part  in  wilderness  history.  At  the  conclusion  of 
peace.  Count  Frontenac,  the  French  governor,  had  seriously 
weakened  the  power  of  the  Five  Nations,  had  confirmed  and 
extended  his  alliances  with  the  Indians  of  the  West,  had  re¬ 
pelled  the  English  theory  of  Iroquois  sovereignity,  and  had 
put  matters  in  fine  train  for  the  further  development  of  the 
French  policy.  Dongan’s  plan  had  completely  failed. 

In  the  short  interval  of  peace.  Count  Frontenac  took  an¬ 
other  important  step.  In  1686  he  caused  De  Luht  to  con¬ 
struct  Fort  St.  Joseph  at  the  head  of  Ste.  Claire  River,  and  in 
1701  he  sent  Cadillac  to  plant  the  colony  and  build  the 
stockade  of  Detroit.  These  posts  securely  closed  the  North¬ 
west  to  the  English. 

In  Queen  Anne’s  War  (1702-’13)  the  English  made  an¬ 
other  ineffectual  attempt  to  strike  Canada  by  the  way  of 
Lake  Champlain.  At  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  France  ceded 
to  England  Newfoundland,  and  Acadia  with  its  ancient 
boundaries  ;  and,  what  was  still  more  important  in  our  view, 
she  formally  admitted  that  the  Five  Nations  or  Cantons 
were  subjects  of  Great  Britain. 

Years  before  war  again  broke  out  both  sides  were  taking 
steps  that  made  war  still  more  certain.  In  1720,  Vaudreuil, 
Governor  of  Canada,  built  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River 
a  fort  of  the  same  name,  near  the  spot  that  had  once  been 
occupied  by  La  Salle.  Of  all  points  on  the  lakes  this  was 
now  the  most  important  one  for  the  French  to  hold.  In 
1732,  Governor  Burnett,  of  New  York,  in  order  to  throw  up 
a  bulwark  between  the  Iroquois  and  Canada,  constructed  a 


STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND.  223 


fortiUed  trading  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Oswego  River. 
This  was  the  first  time  that  the  English  had  made  even  a 
beginning  on  the  chain  of  Great  Lakes  ;  the  French  had 
made  their  beginnings  more  than  one  hundred  years  before. 
Oswego  was  intended  as  an  answer  to  Forts  Frontenac  and 
Niagara,  and  it  foretold  the  day  when  an  English  flotilla  and 
army  would  descend  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  conquest  of 
Canada.  In  the  meantime  the  rival  colonies  were  feeling 
their  way  toward  Lake  Champlain.  The  English  established 
settlements  and  posts  on  the  upper  Connecticut,  in  western 
Massachusetts,  in  southern  Vermont,  and  in  the  wilderness 
where  lie  the  sources  of  Lakes  George  and  Champlain.  In 
1665  the  French  had  occupied  Isle  La  Motte,  and  in  1730-’31 
they  seized  the  narrows  of  Lake  Champlain  and  constructed 
the  formidable  Fort  Frederic,  at  Crown  Point.  This  act 
planted  them  in  the  gate  of  the  country,”  as  the  Iroquois 
called  the  lake,  along  both  sides  of  which  French  settle¬ 
ments  began  slowly  to  spread.  The  French  had  now  fully 
taken  up  La  Salle’s  original  idea.  In  the  far  West  also 
France  was  fortifying  her  right  with  might.  As  early  as 
1735  French  colonists  crossed  the  Kankakee  portage  to  the 
Wabash  Valley,  where  they  planted  a  long,  thin  line  of 
settlements,  of  which  Vincennes  was  the  chief.  Afterward 
these  colonists  reached  Canada  by  the  St.  Marys,  the  Maumee, 
and  Lake  Erie.  Still  other  settlements  and  fortified  posts 
were  established  on  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi  Rivers, 
on  the  Tennessee  and  the  Alabama.  Only  one  great  river 
valley  the  possession  of  which  was  essential  to  her  policy 
had  France  failed  to  secure  down  to  1744. 

King  George’s  War  (1744-’48)  was  marked  by  the  old 
features  :  naval  battles,  French  and  Indian  forays,  and  fu¬ 
tile  schemes  to  invade  Canada  by  Lake  Champlain.  The 
treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  restored  all  conquests  that  had 
been  made  in  the  course  of  the  war  on  either  side,  and  as  its 
negotiators  could  not  agree  upon  boundary  lines,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  upon  the  ancient  boundaries  of  Acadia,  they  re¬ 
ferred  such  questions  to  a  joint  commission,  which,  however, 


224 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


could  not  agree,  and  so  accomplished  nothing.  The  truth 
is,  the  relations  of  the  two  powers  in  America  had  become 
so  strained  that  only  the  sword  could  render  a  decisive  ver¬ 
dict.  The  peace  was  therefore  of  short  duration. 

The  time  had  finally  come  for  the  English  colonists  to 
show  a  real  interest  in  the  country  beyond  the  mountains. 
For  some  time  the  hunter  and  trader  had  been  following 
the  deer  through  the  mountain  passes  to  the  streams  flowing 
to  the  Mississippi,  and  now  the  explorer  and  the  pioneer 
began  to  follow  the  hunter  and  trader.  In  1748  Dr. 
Walker,  with  a  company  of  Virginians,  made  his  way  into 
the  West,  discovering  and  naming  the  Cumberland  Moun¬ 
tains  and  Cumberland  and  Louisa  Rivers.  In  the  same 
year  the  first  transmontane  settlement  was  made,  at  Draper’s 
Meadow,  on  New  River,  a  branch  of  the  Kanawha.  In  1748 
also  the  Ohio  Company  was  formed  ;  it  obtained  a  grant  of 
fi.ve  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  on  the  Kanawha  and 
Monongahela  Rivers,  and  ordered  large  shipments  of  goods 
from  London,  preparatory  to  embarking  in  land  speculation 
and  in  the  Indian  trade.  About  the  same  time  the  Will’s 
Creek  route  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Ohio  was  discovered. 
In  1750-’51  Christopher  Gist,  an  agent  of  the  Ohio  Com¬ 
pany,  explored  both  sides  of  the  Ohio  for  a  considerable  dis¬ 
tance  below  the  forks.  The  Indians  occupying  the  country 
between  the  Ohio  and  Lake  Erie  were  found  generally 
friendly  to  the  English,  and  the  Pennsylvanians  and  Vir¬ 
ginians  carried  on  a  large  trade  with  them. 

While  the  French  and  Indian  War  was  only  the  Ameri¬ 
can  side  of  the  Seven  Years’  War,  it  began  before  hostilities 
broke  out  in  Europe  and  originated  in  a  purely  American 
issue.  This  was  the  line  of  demarcation  between  Canada 
and  her  dependencies  and  the  English  colonies.  France 
proposed  a  geographical  boundary.  She  claimed  that  all 
countries  drained  by  streams  falling  into  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  Great  Lakes,  and  the  Mississippi  should  belong  to  Canada. 
This  would  have  planted  her  securely  on  the  ridges  and 
mountain  crests  separating  the  Lake  and  St.  Lawrence  Basin 


STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND.  225 


and  the  Mississippi  Valley  from  the  Atlantic  slope,  giving 
France  all  the  interior  of  the  continent,  and  leaving  nothing 
to  England  but  her  old  strip  of  seacoast.  The  accomplish¬ 
ment  of  this  claim  would  be  the  full  realizatipn  of  the  policy 
that  she  had  so  long  pursued.  France  rested  her  claim  on 
the  work  of  her  discoveries  arid  explorers,  missionaries,  and 
bushrangers.  Moreover,  it  must  he  admitted  that  this  was  a 
reasonable  title  compared  with  the  claim  that  England  now 
advanced.  That  power  now  practically  abandoned  the  Cabot 
title  to  the  whole  breadth  of  the  continent,  and  brought  for¬ 
ward  a  new  one.  In  1684  the  Iroquois  had  placed  them¬ 
selves  under  the  protection  of  the  Duke  of  York  and  of 
Charles  II ;  in  1713  the  French  had  solemnly  admitted  that 
the  Five  Tribes  were  subjects  of  Great  Britain ;  in  1726  the 
tribes  conveyed  to  England  their  lands  in  trust  for  the 
grantors,  with  little  sense,  no  doubt,  of  what  they  were 
doing.  Nor  was  this  all:  the  Iroquois  claimed  all  territories 
that  their  war  parties  had  overrun,  and  the  English  now  set 
up  the  claim  that  they  stood  in  the  same  relation  to  these 
territories  that  they  did  to  the  original  Iroquois  lands  in 
New  York.  This  was  claiming  not  only  the  country  be¬ 
tween  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi,  hut  also  that  be¬ 
tween  Lakes  Erie  and  Huron  and  the  Ottawa  River,  for  this 
region  was  also  an  Iroquois  conquest  dating  from  the  de¬ 
struction  of  the  Huron  missions.  Indeed,  the  Tribes  had 
‘  formally  ceded  it  all  to  the  English,  including  Detroit;  still 
further,  in  1744  they  made  to  Virginia  a  deed  that  covered  a 
large  part  of  the  whole  West. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  French  had  strung  a  long  line  of 
posts  through  the  Western  wilderness,  extending  from  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  resting  their  claim 
upon  discovery  and  occupancy.  The  English  now  made 
ready  to  cross  the  mountains  in  force,  pleading  their  Iro¬ 
quois  title.  Given  all  the  factors  that  have  been  enumerated, 
as  national  and  colonial  characters  and  tendencies  and  geo¬ 
graphical  relations,  the  great  contest  of  arms  that  now  came 
on  was  inevitable. 


226 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


French  America  had  two  heads — one  among  the  snows  of  Canada, 
and  one  among  the  canebrakes  of  Louisiana ;  one  communicating 
with  the  world  through  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  other 
through  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  These  vital  points  were  feebly  con¬ 
nected  by  a  chain  of  military  posts,  slender  and  often  interrupted, 
circling  through  the  wilderness  nearly  three  thousand  miles.  Mid¬ 
way  between  Canada  and  Louisiana  lay  the  valley  of  the  Ohio. 
If  the  English  should  seize  it,  they  would  sever  the  chain  of  posts 
and  cut  French  America  asunder.  If  the  French  held  it,  and  en¬ 
trenched  themselves  well  along  its  eastern  limits,  they  would  shut 
their  rivals  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  sea,  control  all  the  tribes 
of  the  West,  and  turn  them,  in  case  of  war,  against  the  English 
borders — a  frightful  and  insupportable  scourge.* 

Mr.  Parkman  here  reveals  the  one  step  necessary  to  her 
policy  that  France  had  neglected  to  take ;  she  had  not  seized 
and  fortified  the  forks  of  the  Ohio.  This  position  was  ab¬ 
solutely  essential  to  the  control  of  that  river,  and  ultimately 
even  to  the  control  of  the  Mississippi  itself.  Why,  then, 
had  not  France  placed  herself  in  that  gateway  as  promptly 
as  she  had  occupied  the  portals  of  the  Niagara  and  the 
Detroit  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  is,  that  the  position 
was  an  exposed  one — the  attempt  to  hold  it  dangerous.  Its 
possession  would  necessitate  a  line  of  communications  ex¬ 
tending  from  Canada  by  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie  and  the 
Alleghany  Piver  to  the  forks — a  long  line  that  could  be 
easily  struck  and  broken,  unless  made  very  strong  indeed, 
by  any  one  of  the  colonies.  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  or  Vir¬ 
ginia,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Iroquois.  Then  it  lay  well  with¬ 
in  the  region  that  England  claimed.  So  France  deferred 
seizing  the  country  lying  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio 
River  as  long  as  possible,  in  the  meantime  establishing 
connections  between  the  two  heads  of  New  France  farther 
to  the  West.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  Frenchmen  had 
explored  and  mapped  the  far  Northwest,  Michigan,  and 
Illinois,  long  before  they  had  any  definite  knowledge  of  the 


*  Parkman :  Montcalm  and  Wolf,  vol.  i,  pp.  39,  40. 


STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND.  227 


present  State  of  Ohio.  But  the  logic  of  events  had  now 
brought  things  to  such  a  pass  that  she  could  no  longer  hesi¬ 
tate  to  act. 

It  may  be  again  remarked  that  it  is  not  easy  to  exagger¬ 
ate  the  part  that  the  Iroquois  played  in  early  American 
history.  Mr.  Parkman  has  shown  very  plainly  that  if 
France  could  have  brought  these  haughty  tribes  under  her 
full  influence,  American  history  would  have  reached  its 
destined  goal,  but  by  different  routes  from  those  actually 
followed.  An  Indian  empire  ruled  by  French  priests  would 
have  occupied  the  Mississippi  Valley  ;  war  would  have  been 
repressed  and  agriculture  encouraged;  the  West  would  have 
been  cut  up  into  flefs  and  feudalism  established  ;  the  Eng¬ 
lish  colonies  would  have  been  longer  confined  to  the  At¬ 
lantic  Plain  ;  when  the  final  conflict  drew  on,  absolutism 
would  have  opposed  to  them  a  much  stronger  resistance,  and 
American  independence  would  have  been  deferred,  how 
long  no  one  can  tell,  not  to  speak  of  the  later  modifying 
influence  of  French  ideas  upon  American  civilization.  As 
it  was,  the  Five  Nations  constantly  weakened  Canada,  and 
retarded  the  growth  of  French  absolutism  until  English 
liberty  became  equal  to  the  final  struggle.* 

The  Walker  expedition,  the  Draper  settlement  on  New 
River,  the  Ohio  Company,  Gist’s  explorations,  and  the  pacific 
temper  of  the  Ohio  Indians  have  already  been  mentioned. 
The  Pennsylvanians  also  were  beginning  to  find  their  way 
over  the  mountains.  So  in  1749  Governor  Galissoniere 
sent  Bienville  from  Canada  by  Lake  Chautauqua  and  the 
Alleghany  into  the  Ohio  Valley,  directing  him  to  take  pos¬ 
session  of  it  in  the  name  of  France,  to  placate  the  Indians, 
and  to  thwart  the  English.  In  1753  Duquesne  sent  a  force 
to  seize  and  hold  French  Creek  and  the  upper  Alleghany. 
Early  in  1754  a  small  force  of  Virginians  occupied  and  be¬ 
gan  to  fortify  the  forks  of  the  Ohio ;  but  before  they  had 
finished  their  work  a  much  stronger  French  force  descended 


*  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,  pp.  446-449. 


228 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


the  Alleghany,  seized  the  Virginians,  and  proceeded  to  con¬ 
struct  Fort  Duquesne.  This  act  placed  France  at  once  in 
the  doorway  of  the  West  and  precipitated  the  final  conflict. 
The  next  year  Braddock  advanced  against  Duquesne  with  a 
view  of  cutting  New  France  asunder,  but  his  army  was  de¬ 
feated  and  himself  killed  on  the  Monongahela. 

The  war  had  not  far  advanced  before  the  English  Cabinet 
was  dominated  by  a  statesman  who  had  a  clear  American 
policy,  and  the  vigor  necessary  to  carry  it  into  execution. 
William  Pitt  proposed  nothing  less  than  the  conquest  of 
Canada,  and  the  war  now  assumed  that  form.  To  Canada 
there  were  three  lines  of  approach.  The  first  was  the  Gulf 
and  Piver  St.  Lawrence,  guarded  by  the  fortifications  of 
Louisburg  and  Quebec.  The  second  was  Lakes  George  and 
Champlain  and  the  River  Richelieu— a  route  that  the 
French,  not  content  with  their  previous  precautions,  quickly 
safe-guarded  by  constructing  the  fortress  of  Ticonderoga. 
The  third  route  led  from  Oswego,  by  Lake  Ontario  and  the 
upper  St.  Lawrence,  to  the  heart  of  Canada.  The  shifting 
scenes  of  the  long  war  need  not  here  be  even  sketched. 
Considering  alone-  the  great  disparity  of  the  French  and 
English  colonies  in  numbers  and  in  wealth,  we  should  be 
surprised  that  the  contest  continued  nine  years  ;  but  it  is 
important  to  remember  that  the  French  colonies  were  far 
more  effective  in  war  than  the  English,  that  they  waged  a 
defensive  struggle,  and  that  they  were  supported  by  France, 
as  their  competitors  were  by  England.  It  is  still  more  impor¬ 
tant  to  observe  that  by  every  one  of  the  three  routes  Nature 
offered  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  progress  of  the  English 
arms. 

‘  Geography,’  says  Von  Moltke,  ‘  is  three  fourths  of 
military  science  ’ ;  and  never  was  the  truth  of  his  words 
more  fully  exemplified.  Canada  was  fortified  with  vast  out¬ 
works  of  defense  in  the  savage  forests,  marshes,  and  moun¬ 
tains  that  encompassed  her,  where  the  thoroughfares  were 
streams  choked  with  fallen  trees  and  obstructed  by  cataracts. 
Never  was  the  problem  of  moving  troops  encumbered  with 


STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND.  229 


baggage  and  artillery  a  more  difficult  one.  The  question 
was  less  how  to  fight  the  enemy  than  how  to  get  at  him.  If 
a  few  practicable  roads  had  crossed  this  broad  track  of  wil¬ 
derness,  the  war  would  have  been  shortened  and  its  charac¬ 
ter  changed.”  * 

All  these  obstacles  were  finally  overcome  ;  and  in  1760 
Montreal,  the  last  Canadian  stronghold,  fell  before  the  ad¬ 
vance  of  the  three  English  armies  that,  coming  by  the  three 
different  routes,  effected  a  junction  in  its  neighborhood  on 
the  same  day.  France  now  retired  from  the  continent.  She 
ceded  in  1763  part  of  her  North  American  possessions  to 
England  and  part  to  Spain,  the  Mississippi  River  and  the 
Iberville  becoming  the  boundary  between  them.  . 

This  rapid  view  of  a  contest,  the  vast  consequences  of 
which  are  more  fully  seen  as  time  goes  by,  reveals  the  ele¬ 
ments  of  power  that  were  arrayed  on  either  side.  As  Pro¬ 
fessor  Shaler  puts  the  case  : 

Throughout  their  efforts  in  North  America,  the  French  showed 
a  capacity  for  understanding  the  large  questions  of  political  geog¬ 
raphy,  a  genius  for  exploration,  and  a  talent  for  making  use  of  its 
results,  or  guiding  their  way  to  dominion,  that  is  in  singular  con¬ 
trast  with  the  blundering  processes  of  their  English  rivals.  They 
seem  to  have  understood  the  possibilities  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
a  century  and  a  half  before  the  English  began  to  understand  them. 
They  planted  a  system  of  posts  and  laid  out  lines  for  commerce 
through  this  region ;  they  strove  to  organize  the  natives  into  civil¬ 
ized  communities;  they  did  all  that  the  conditions  permitted  to 
achieve  success.  Their  failure  must  be  attributed  to  the  want  of 
colonists,  to  the  essential  irreclaimableness  of  the  American  savage, 
and  to  the  want  of  a  basis  for  extended  commerce  in  this  country. 
There  were  no  precious  metals  to  tempt  men  into  this  wilderness, 
and  none  of  the  fancy  for  life  or  for  lands  among  the  home  people 
— that  wandering  instinct  which  has  been  the  basis  of  all  the  im¬ 
perial  power  of  the  English  race.  Thus  a  most  cleverly  devised 
scheme  of  continental  occupation,  which  was  admirably  well  adapted 


*  Parkman :  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  vol.  ii,  pp.  380,  881. 


230 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


to  the  physical  conditions  of  the  country,  never  came  near  to  suc¬ 
cess.  It  fell  beneath  the  clumsy  power  of  another  race  that  had 
the  capacity  for  fixing  itself  firmly  in  new  lands,  and  that  grew 
without  distinct  plan  until  it  came  to  possess  it  altogether. 

At  the  critical  periods  in  the  long  struggle  much  was 
said  by  both  parties  about  their  rights”  ;  hut  our  balanc¬ 
ing  arguments  pro  and  con  is  little  to  the  purpose,  for  the 
issue  was  one  that  grew  out  of  geography  and  love  of  do¬ 
minion,  and  hence  one  that  only  force  could  determine. 

Mr.  Bancroft  says  the  issue  of  1754  was  which  of  the 
two  languages  should  be  the  mother  tongue  of  the  future 
millions  of  the  West — whether  the  Romanic  or  the  Teutonic 
race  should  form  the  seed  of  its  people.  The  issue  was  a 
broader  one  than  the  destiny  of  the  West — was  none  other 
than  the  destiny  of  the  major  part  of  North  America. 
Should  the  institutions  of  England,  or  of  France  and  Spain, 
spread  over  the  larger  share  of  its  surface  ?  The  immediate 
issue  of  the  war  derives  most  of  its  significance  from  a  sec¬ 
ond  inevitable  conflict  to  which  it  soon  led.  Mr.  Fiske  has 
called  Wolfe’s  triumph  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  which 
really  determined  the  struggle,  the  greatest  turning  point  in 
modern  history ;  and  Mr.  Green  assigns  the  reason  when  he 
calls  this  triumph  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States. 

Note. — The  conflicting  claims  are  well  shown  by  Parkman:  Fifty 
Years  of  Conflict,  vol.  i,  p.  204,  vol.  ii,  pp.  63, 273  ;  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  voh 
i,  pp.  37,  61,  79,  122-128,  168,  236-238,  259,  vol.  ii,  p.  86. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


A  CONSPECTUS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

References. — See  histories  of  the  United  States  previously  re¬ 
ferred  to.  Carrington ;  Boston  and  New  York,  The  Battles  of  the 
Revolution,  The  Strategic  Relations  of  New  Jersey  (these  books 
are  military  studies  of  the  war) ;  Gilmore :  The  Rear  Guard  of  the 
American  Revolution ;  Roosevelt :  Winning  the  West  (particularly 
Chaps.  11.,  111.,  IX) ;  Perkins :  Annals  of  the  West ;  Campbell  and 
Cooley :  Previous  references ;  Fiske :  The  American  Revolution. 

Lafayette  called  the  Revolution  “  the  grandest  of  con¬ 
tests,  won  by  the  skirmishes  of  sentinels  and  outposts.” 
Skirmishes  the  battles  certainly  were  as  compared  with  the 
great  battles  of  Europe  or  of  our  Civil  War  ;  moreover,  they 
were  so  scattered,  were  fought  by  so  many  different  men, 
and  looked  directly  to  such  different  ends,  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  bring  them  together  into  one  general  view.  The  only 
way  to  overcome  the  difficulty  is  :  (1)  To  frame  a  clear  out¬ 
line  map  of  the  whole  theater  of  action,  of  its  several  divi¬ 
sions  and  their  relations  :  (2)  To  perceive  clearly  not  only 
the  grand  ends  of  the  war — conquest  on  the  one  part  and 
defense  on  the  other — but  also  the  particular  ends  of  the  sev¬ 
eral  divisions  of  the  action  ;  (3)  To  concentrate  the  attention 
on  the  important  points,  leaving  detail  and  side  incidents  to 
fall  out  of  the  mind.  These  observations  are,  of  course, 
equally  pertinent  to  all  similar  cases.  To  illustrate  them,  the 
following  conspectus  of  the  Revolution  is  submitted  : 

I.  In  no  other  part  of  the  country  were  American  ideas 
so  fully  developed  as  in  New  England.  In  the  march  to¬ 
ward  independence.  New  England  led  the  country,  Massa- 


232 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


chusetts  led  New  England,  and  Boston  led  Massachusetts. 
To  enforce  the  obnoxious  laws,  to  overawe  the  province,  and 
to  check,  if  possible,  the  spread  of  dangerous  ideas,  the  Brit- 
ish  ministry  had  sent  four  regiments  of  troops  to  Boston  in 
1768.  These  troops  were  received  by  the  people  in  no 
friendly  spirit ;  and  after  the  Boston  Massacre  of  March, 
1770,  this  spirit  became  more  and  more  pronounced. 

II.  Events  now  moved  rapidly  in  all  the  colonies.  Every 
year  saw  some  fresh  act  of  British  aggression  and  witnessed 
the  higher  rise  of  the  spirit  of  resistance.  When  the  royal 
governor  dissolved  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  it  imme¬ 
diately  reappeared  as  a  provincial  congress.  There  were 
committees  of  correspondence  and  committees  of  safety.  In 
various  colonies  the  militia  were  reorganized,  put  under 
patriotic  captains,  and  drilled  for  active  duty.  Munitions 
of  war — powder  and  ball  and  cannon — were  gathered  at 
various  convenient  places.  Everything  on  the  American 
side  betokened  war,  if  only  the  British  officers  should  pro¬ 
voke  it. 

III.  General  Gage’s  attempt  to  destroy  the  munitions 
that  had  been  gathered  at  Concord  brought  on  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  April  19,  1775,  fired  the  country,  and  led  to  a 
general  uprising  of  the  people.  Hundreds  of  armed  men 
pressed  hard  after  the  British  column  as  it  retreated  from 
Concord  to  Boston,  and  thousands  more  followed  after  the 
hundreds.  Immediately  the  British  troops  were  shut  in  be¬ 
tween  a  patriotic  host  and  the  sea.  In  June,  Bunker  Hill 
was  fought..  In  July,  Washington  took  command  of  the 
American  forces,  and  at  once  began  to  organize  into  an 
army  the  motley  multitude  that  had  gathered  from  far  and 
near.  Month  after  month  he  pressed  the  siege  closer  and 
closer  ;  and  in  March,  1776,  General  Howe,  who  had  suc¬ 
ceeded  General  Gage,  finding  that  his  position  could  no 
longer  be  defended,  put  his  troops  on  board  the  fleet  and 
sailed  away  to  Halifax. 

IV.  But  the  war  was  not  over.  The  ministry  dispatched 
the  choicest  troops  of  the  British  army  and  the  finest  ships 


A  CONSPECTUS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  233 


of  the  British  navy  to  America.  More  than  this,  it  sent  over 
thousands  of  mercenaries  hired  or  bought  of  the  princes  of 
Germany.  It  also  summoned  to  its  aid  the  savage  warriors 
of  the  American  forests.  But  Boston  was  not  again  molest¬ 
ed,  nor  Massachusetts  again  invaded  to  the  end  of  the  war. 
Armed  resistance  to  the  ministry  had  extended  to  all  the 
colonies  ;  and  the  enemy,  on  his  return,  sought  a  place  of 
attack  that  he  thought  more  suitable  for  his  purpose. 
While  the  royal  forces  are  gathering  at  Halifax,  we  will 
take  a  glance  at  the  country  and  people  whom  they  are  sent 
to  subjugate. 

V.  The  thirteen  colonies,  stretching  along  the  Atlantic 
shore  from  the  Piscataqua  to  the  St.  Marys,  presented  an 
ocean  front  more  than  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  length. 
This  front  was  cut  at  short  intervals  by  deep  rivers  that 
made  excellent  harbors  for  commerce,  but  also  offered  to  an 
enemy  ready  means  of  access  to  the  country.  Jamestown, 
New  York,  and  Plymouth  were  each  more  than  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  years  old  ;  still  the  settlements  were  only  a 
thin  fringe  to  the  continent,  and  by  far  the  larger  part  of 
the  Atlantic  Plain  was  an  unbroken  forest.  Mr.  Bancroft 
estimates  the  total  population  at  nearly  2,600,000,  black  and 
white.  Virginia  was  the  most  populous  colony,  Georgia  the 
least.  The  three  principal  cities  were  Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  each  with  about  20,000  to  22,000  people,  and  Boston, 
with  only  17,000.  Lancaster,  Pa.,  with  1,000  houses  and 
6,000  people,  was  the  largest  internal  town.  There  were 
few  men  in  the  colonies  owning  property  to  the  amount  of 
$200,000. 

VI.  If  the  king’s  ministers  had  ever  flattered  themselves 
that  armed  resistance  to  their  policy  would  be  local,  they 
were  quickly  undeceived.  The  conflict  which  they  had 
provoked  was  not  the  Boston,  or  even  the  Massachusetts, 
rebellion,  but  the  American  Revolution.  At  first  there  was 
no  thought  of  independence.  Such  a  purpose  was  directly 
disavowed.  The  sole  object  was  to  resist  encroachments  on 
ancient  rights  and  to  defend  ancient  privileges.  But  as  the 

17 


234 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


purposes  of  the  king’s  government  became  more  and  more 
distinctly  revealed,  a  desire  for  separation  from  the  mother 
country  took  the  place  of  the  demand  for  a  redress  of  griev¬ 
ances.  And  so,  on  July  4, 1776,  when  there  was  not  a  British 
soldier  within  all  their  borders,  this  desire  was  expressed  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

VII.  The  States  were  divided  into  three  zones  :  New 
England,  the  Middle  States,  and  the  South.  The  New  Eng- 
land  States  contained  about  700,000  white  inhabitants,  the 
Middle  States  about  the  same  number,  the  Southern  States 
800,000.  Most  of  the  four  or  five  hundred  thousand  negroes 
were  in  the  South.  New  England  could  he  assailed  from 
Boston  and  New  York  ;  the  Middle  States  from  New  York 
and  Philadelphia;  the  South,  from  Chesapeake  Bay,  Cape 
Fear  River,  and  Charleston.  The  British  plan  of  campaign 
for  the  year  1776  embraced  the  whole  country.  Cape  Fear 
River  was  chosen  as  the  base  of  operations  against  the  South ; 
New  York  against  the  middle  zone  and  the  East.  At  the 
same  time  the  ministry  more  than  half  expected  that  the 
States  would  he  smitten  with  terror  at  sight  of  the  powerful 
armaments  sent  against  them,  and  so  submit  without  further 
resistance. 

VIII.  Sir  Henry  Clinton  and  Sir  Peter  Parker  were  sent 
to  the  South.  After  collecting  their  forces  in  Cape  Fear 
River,  they  bore  away  to  Charleston.  But  the  attack  on 
Fort  Sullivan  failed  as  signally  as  the  proclamation  to  the 
people  that  Clinton  issued.  Colonel  Moultrie  gallantly  re¬ 
pulsed  Parker’s  ships,  and  they  sailed  away  to  the  North. 
It  was  more  than  two  full  years  before  the  British  renewed 
operations  in  the  southern  zone. 

IX.  New  York  was  the  principal  point  of  attack.  About 
a  week  after  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ¬ 
ence  a  powerful  fleet  with  30,000  troops  on  board  arrived 
in  the  bay,  and  took  possession  of  Staten  Island.  Lord  Howe 
commanded  the  fleet,  and  his  brother.  General  Howe,  the 
army.  Situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  the  city  was 
the  gateway  to  the  interior  of  the  State  and  to  Canada.  It 


A  CONSPECTUS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  235 


was  within  easy  striking  distance  of  the  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island  towns.  New  Jersey  lay  open  to  invasion  from 
the  city  and  hay,  and  Philadelphia  was  but  ninety  miles  off 
to  the  southwest.  The  richest  parts  of  the  country  were 
within  a  few  days’  march.  It  was  the  best  center  for  naval 
operations  on  the  coast.  It  was  the  metropolis  of  a  State 
that  was  full  of  Tories,  and  a  large  number  of  its  own  popu¬ 
lation  were  loyal  to  the  king.  All  in  all,  New  York  was  as 
desirable  a  point  for  making  war  against  the  people  of  the 
Atlantic  Plain  then  as  it  is  for  carrying  on  their  commerce 
now. 

X.  After  the  British  evacuation  of  Boston  Washington 
had  hurried  to  New  York,  bringing  with  him  as  many  of 
his  troops  as  possible.  He  had  done  his  utmost  to  put  the 
city  in  a  state  of  defense.  Some  20,000  men  of  all  kinds, 
mostly  undisciplined  militia,  had  been  gathered.  Fortifica¬ 
tions  had  been  built  at  various  favorable  points  below  and 
above  the  city ;  but  the  defenses  were  insufficient,  the  stores 
and  armaments  scanty,  the  troops  too  few  in  numbers  and 
too  deficient  in  discipline.  Toward  the  end  of  August  the 
fighting  began.  The  Americans  lost  the  battle  of  Long 
Island.  Washington  now  withdrew  his  forces  to  New  York, 
and  General  Howe  soon  followed  him.  Little  by  little  the 
whole  island,  including  Forts  Lee  and  Washington,  fell  into 
Howe’s  hands.  Before  the  end  of  November  the  British 
commander  had  fully  succeeded  in  the  first  object  of  his 
campaign.  New  York  was  his,  and  so  defenseless  seemed 
the  country,  whichever  way  he  turned,  that  he  might  well 
have  been  embarrassed  to  tell  where  he  should  deliver  his 
next  blow.  New  York  was  the  first  city  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  and  it  remained  longest  in  their  pos¬ 
session. 

XI.  Washington  threw  what  remained  of  his  army  across 
the  Hudson  into  New  Jersey.  Here  the  British  followed 
him,  their  purpose  being  to  scatter  the  small  remnant  of  his 
forces,  to  overrxm  the  country  between  the  coast  and  the 
Delaware,  and  to  capture  Philadelphia.  December,  1776, 


236 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


was  the  darkest  month  of  the  Revolution  ;  hut  Washington 
managed  to  keep  the  field  in  the  enemy's  front,  falling  back 
as  he  advanced.  At  last  he  crossed  the  Delaware,  and  se¬ 
cured  on  the  western  bank  of  the  stream  all  the  boats  with¬ 
in  reach.  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  was  in  command  of  the 
pursuing  forces,  expected  to  “  catch  him  and  end  the  war  " 
us  soon  as  the  ice  would  bear  his  army.  But  Washington 
recrossed  the  river  and  surprised  the  enemy,  first  at  Trenton 
and  then  at  Princeton,  inflicting  severe  losses  at  both  places. 
Next  he  marched  to  Morristown,  in  the  mountains  of  north¬ 
ern  New  Jersey,  where  Cornwallis  did  not  dare  attack  him. 

XII.  Washington  now  held  the  range  of  low  mountains 
extending  southwest  from  Peekskill  on  the  Hudson  across 
the  upper  end  of  New  Jersey,  a  line  that  he  continued  to 
hold  most  of  the  time  until  the  end  of  the  war.  The  British 
drew  back  toward  Sandy  Hook.  The  victories  at  Trenton 
and  Princeton  greatly  encouraged  the  Americans,  and  con¬ 
vinced  the  king’s  generals  that  the  war  was  not  over. 
They  had  failed  to  capture  Philadelphia,  and  were  really 
shut  up,  on  that  side,  to  New  York  and  the  adjacent  towns. 
In  December  the  British  captured  Newport,  R.  I.,  which 
they  held  for  the  next  three  years. 

XIH.  Henceforth  New  York  was  the  base  of  nearly  all 
the  British  operations  in  America,  no  matter  in  which  of  the 
three  zones  they  were  conducted.  These  operations  looked 
to  three  ends  :  1,  to  cut  off  New  England  by  controUing 
the  Sound  and  the  Hudson  ;  2,  to  overrun  and  hold  the 
Middle  States  ;  3,  to  subjugate  the  South.  To  thwart  them 
in  their  large  undertakings,  while  remaining  apparently  in¬ 
different  to  their  isolated  and  unimportant  expeditions,  now 
became  Washington’s  steady  policy.  To  this  end  he  occu¬ 
pied  strong  positions  in  New  Jersey,  as  at  the  hub  of  a 
wheel,  so  near  to  New  York  that  the  British  generals  could 
not  venture  out  of  the  city  in  force  without  endangering 
their  base,  while  Washington  kept  his  army  compact  for 
effective  fighting  when  he  was  disposed.  Ne^v  Yo]’k  and 
♦Pennsylvania  were  the  two  theaters  of  war  in  1777. 


A  CONSPECTUS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  237 


XIV.  In  the  spring  of  1775  Ethan  Allen  and  Benedict 
Arnold  captured  the  British  fortresses  on  Lake  Champlain, 
Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point.  Later  the  same  year,  Generals 
Schuyler  and  Montgomery,  with  a  small  force,  descended 
the  lake,  and  in  November  captured  Montreal.  A  little 
later  Montgomery  effected  a  junction  with  General  Arnold, 
who  with  another  small  force  had  made  his  way  through 
the  wilderness  of  Maine  to  Canada.  The  main  object  of  this 
double  invasion  was,  if  possible,  to  enlist  the  people  of 
Canada  in  the  war  and  to  effect  a  political  union  with  them  ; 
but  the  Canadians,  being  of  French  descent,  and  having  had 
no  such  training  in  self-government  as  the  Americans,  were 
indifferent  to  the  contest.  Montgomery  and  Arnold  made  a 
spirited  attack  on  Quebec,  but  were  repulsed,  and  Mont¬ 
gomery  was  killed.  In  the  summer  of  1776  the  Americans 
abandoned  Canada  and  retreated  to  the  forts  on  Lake 
Champlain. 

Under  the  circumstances,  the  invasion  of  Canada  and  the 
determined  effort  to  effect  its  conquest  may  seem  to  have 
been  doubtful  policy.  On  the  other  hand.  Congress  was 
extremely  anxious  to  induce  the  Canadians  to  make  common 
cause  with  the  States  against  England,  and  even  more  anx¬ 
ious  to  ward  off  Indian  attacks  from  that  quarter,  and  to 
keep  the  country  from  becoming  the  base  of  such  move¬ 
ments  as  those  of  Burgoyne,  made  two  years  later.  John 
Adams  wrote  at  the  time  : 

The  regulars  [of  the  British  army],  if  they  get  full  possession  of 
that  province  and  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  above 
Deschambault — at  least  above  the  mouth  of  the  Sorel — will  have 
nothing  to  interrupt  their  communication  with  Niagara,  Detroit, 
Michilimackinac ;  they  will  have  the  navigation  of  the  five  Great 
Lakes  quite  as  far  as  the  Mississippi  River ;  they  will  have  a  free 
communication  with  all  the  numerous  tribes  of  Indians  extended 
along  the  frontiers  of  all  the  colonies,  and  by  their  trinkets  and 
bribes  will  induce  them  to  take  up  the  hatchet  and  spread  blood 
and  fire  among  the  inhabitants ;  by  which  means  all  the  frontier  in¬ 
habitants  will  be  driven  in  upon  the  middle  settlements  at  a  time 


233 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


when  the  inhabitants  of  the  seaports  and  coasts  will  be  driven  back 
by  the  British  navy.  Is  this  picture  too  high-colored  ?  Perhaps  it 
is ;  but  surely  we  must  maintain  our  power  in  Canada.* 

XV.  In  the  summer  of  1777  General  Burgoyne  ascended 
Lake  Champlain  with  8,000  men.  He  expected  to  effect  a 
junction  near  Albany  with  one  British  army  from  New 
York,  and  with  another  that  should  march  from  Lake 
Ontario  by  the  way  of  Oswego  and  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and 
then  to  descend  the  Hudson.  His  aim  was  to  subdue  the 
State  of  New  York,  to  hold  the  whole  line  from  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence  to  New  York  Bay,  and  to  separate  New  England  from 
the  Union.  He  captured  the  lake  forts,  and  drove  the  smaU 
American  force  before  him  as  he  advanced.  Passing  over 
the  divide  ”  to  the  southward  slope,  he  began  to  encounter 
such  difficulties  as  many  another  general  has  encountered 
who  finds  himself  in  an  enemy’s  country,  far  from  his  base 
of  supplies.  Provisions  became  scarce,  his  men  fell  by  dis¬ 
ease  and  in  battle,  the  enemy  in  increasing  numbers  hung 
upon  his  rear,  and  became  bolder  in  his  front.  A  detach¬ 
ment  that  he  sent  to  Bennington  was  annihilated.  Checked 
at  Bemus  Heights  and  Stillwater  in  his  efforts  to  break 
through  the  American  army,  defeated  in  his  attempt  to  fall 
back  toward  Canada,  and  failing  to  meet  the  forces  that  he 
expected  from  the  South  and  West,  Burgoyne,  at  Saratoga, 
in  October,  surrendered  to  General  Gates  what  remained  of 
the  army  that  he  had  led  from  Canada  a  few  months  before. 
Meantime  General  Clinton  was  ascending  the  Hudson,  but 
learning  of  the  surrender  he  retraced  his  steps  to  New  York, 
while  the  force  dispatched  from  Lake  Ontario  under  St. 
Leger  was  defeated  at  Oriskany  and  compelled  to  turn  back 
whence  it  came.  After  Burgoyne’s  defeat  no  further  at¬ 
tempt  was  made  to  split  the  Union  by  driving  a  wedge 
through  it  from  North  to  South.  In  the  meantime  impor¬ 
tant  events  were  taking  place  in  the  middle  zone. 

XVI.  In  the  spring  of  1777  General  Howe  sought  vainly 


*  Works,  vol.  ix,  p.  399. 


A  CONSPECTUS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  239 


to  bring  Washington  out  of  his  strong  position  in  northern 
New  Jersey.  He  did  not  dare  attempt  a  march  from  New 
York  to  Philadelphia,  lest  Washington  should  strike  him  in 
the  flank  as  he  passed  by.  So  in  July,  leaving  a  force  to  hold 
New  York,  he  put  to  sea  with  eight  thousand  men  to  attempt 
from  the  south  the  capture  of  that  city.  Philadelphia  was 
as  large  and  wealthy  a  city  as  New  York,  and  in  some  re¬ 
spects  was  even  more  important.  Surrounded  by  a  rich  and 
populous  country,  situated  on  the  Delaware  midway  between 
the  North  and  the  South,  and  readily  accessible  from  both 
directions,  it  was  the  continental  city  of  the  Eevolution. 

XVII.  General  Howe  landed  his  forces  at  Elkton,  at  the 
head  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Appreciating  fully  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  the  city,  Washington  marched  south  and  threw  his 
army  across  the  line  of  the  British  advance.  At  Chadd’s 
Ford,  on  the  Brandywine,  he  was  defeated.  Howe  advanced 
and  took  possession  of  Philadelphia.  Washington  attacked 
again  at  Germantown,  and  was  again  defeated.  Forts  Mif¬ 
flin  and  Mercer,  which  had  compelled  the  British  general 
to  ascend  the  Chesapeake  rather  than  the  Delaware,  soon 
fell  into  his  hands.  General  Howe  proceeded  to  quarter 
his  troops  in  Philadelphia.  Washington  marched  up  the 
Schuylkill  to  Valley  Forge,  where  his  army  passed  a  miser¬ 
able  winter,  half-fed,  half -clothed,  half-housed,  and  scourged 
by  disease.  The  American  cause  seemed  almost  as  desperate 
as  the  winter  before.  Still  Washington  managed  to  hold 
his  troops  together.  In  the  meantime  the  capture  of  Bur- 
goyne  was  preparing  important  events  abroad. 

XVIII.  Ever  since  the  French  and  Indian  War  France 
had  hoped  to  see  England  and  her  American  colonies  es¬ 
tranged.  She  remembered  keenly  her  own  losses  in  that 
war,  and  still  bore  her  traditional  ill-will  to  England. 
Knowing  this,  the  American  Congress  had  sought  to  bring 
France  into  an  American  alliance.  Convinced  by  the  Dec¬ 
laration  of  Independence  that  the  States  meant  separation, 
and  by  the  overthrow  of  Burgoyne  that  they  would  not  im¬ 
probably  succeed  in  the  end,  the  French  Government  now 


240 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


yielded  to  persuasion,  and  early  in  1778  entered  into  a  treaty 
of  commerce  and  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  the  young  nation. 
This  alliance  proved  to  be  of  the  greatest  importance.  The 
next  year  Spain  also  declared  war  against  England. 

XIX.  In  the  spring  of  1778  the  British  line  was  an  arc 
extending  from  Newport  to  Philadelphia.  It  was  too  long 
to  be  held  against  a  strong  and  active  enemy  occupying  a 
position  without  the  arc,  and  free  to  attack  it  with  his  whole 
force,  as  Washington  was,  at  any  point.  News  now  came 
that  a  French  fleet  and  army  might  at  any  time  be  expected 
on  the  coast.  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  had  succeeded  Howe 
in  the  chief  command,  thought  it  necessary  to  evacuate 
Philadelphia  and  concentrate  his  forces  at  New  York.  Not 
daring  to  try  the  fortunes  of  the  sea,  for  fear  of  the  French, 
he  abandoned  the  city  and  began  a  march  toward  New 
York  across  New  Jersey.  Washington  hastened  to  follow 
him,  and  an  indecisive  battle  was  fought  at  Monmouth 
Court  House.  Clinton  reached  Sandy  Hook,  and  arrived  at 
his  destination  by  way  of  the  bay. 

XX.  The  British  commanders  had  now  failed  in  the 
Middle  States  as  well  as  in  the  North.  They  continued  to 
hold  New  York  to  the  end  of  the  war,  while  Washington 
held,  as  before,  his  strong  line  extending  from  the  Hudson 
to  Morristown.  In  1778  Count  D’Estaing  arrived  on  the 
coast  with  a  French  fleet  and  army  ;  but  after  threatening 
Newport  and  New  York,  accomplishing  nothing,  he  sailed 
to  the  West  Indies.  After  this  there  was  little  fighting 
north  of  the  Potomac.  However,  a  few  noteworthy  events 
on  land  and  water  should  be  noticed  before  we  go  to  the 
South. 

XXI.  In  1778-79  George  Rogers  Clark,  acting  under 
the  authority  of  Virginia,  gathered  a  force  west  of  the 
mountains,  crossed  the  Ohio  River,  and  wrested  from  the 
British  the  territory  now  comprising  the  States  of  Illinois 
and  Indiana.  In  1779  General  Anthony  Wayne  stormed 
Stony  Point,  on  the  Hudson.  Toward  the  close  of  the  next 
year  General  Arnold  attempted  to  betray  to  the  enemy 


A  CONSPECTUS  OF  THE  AMEPJCAN  REVOLUTION.  241 


West  Point,  which  he  commanded,  hut  his  plan  was  de- 
feated.  From  time  to  time  the  British  commanders  sent 
marauding  expeditions  along  the  coast,  and  these  plun¬ 
dered  and  burned  some  of  the  fairest  towns  of  Connecticut, 
New  Jersey,  and  Virginia.  On  the  frontier  the  Tory  and 
the  Indian,  each  rivaling  the  other  in  deeds  of  blood,  laid 
waste  some  flourishing  settlements,  as  W^yoming  and  Cherry 
Valley. 

XXII.  Before  the  war  had  begun  the  States  had  reached 
a  high  degree  of  maritime  enterprise  and  prosperity.  In  a 
single  line  of  ocean  industry  they  won  from  Edmund  Burke 
the  eulogium  :  “No  sea  hut  what  is  vexed  by  their  flsheries. 
No  climate  that  is  not  witness  to  their  toils.  Neither  the 
perseverance  of  Holland,  nor  the  activity  of  France,  nor 
the  dexterous  and  Arm  sagacity  of  English  enterprise,  ever 
carried  this  most  perilous  mode  of  hardy  industry  to  the  ex¬ 
tent  to  which  it  has  been  pushed  by  this  recent  people — a 
people  who  are  still,  as  it  were,  but  in  the  gristle,  and  not 
yet  hardened  into  the  bone  of  manhood.”  Naturally  such 
a  people  as  this  sought  their  enemy  on  the  water  as  well  as 
on  the  land.  They  were  unable  to  cope  with  the  English 
navy  ;  but  their  privateers  vexed  British  commerce  and 
seized  many  rich  prizes.  The  voyages  of  some  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  armed  vessels  are  tales  of  wild  ocean  romance.  The 
most  famous  was  that  of  John  Paul  Jones  along  the  coast 
of  England  and  Scotland  in  the  autumn  of  1778 — a  voyage 
that  ended  in  the  terrific  battle  of  the  Bon  Homme  Rich¬ 
ard  and  the  Serapis. 

XXIII.  After  the  retreat  from  Philadelphia,  in  1778,  the 
British  generals  turned  their  attention  mainly  to  the  South. 
Late  in  that  year  an  expedition  from  New  York  captured 
Savannah,  and  soon  all  Georgia  fell  into  British  hands.  In 
September,  1779,  General  Lincoln  and  Count  d’Estaing  at¬ 
tempted  the  recapture  of  Savannah,  but  failed.  Early  the 
next  year,  General  Clinton,  having  first  caused  Newport  to 
be  evacuated  and  collected  his  available  troops  at  New  York, 
sailed  to  Charleston.  In  May  he  compelled  the  surrender 


242 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


of  the  city  and  its  garrison  of  six  thousand  men,  commanded 
by  General  Lincoln.  Clinton  now  returned  to  New  York, 
leaving  Lord  Cornwallis  with  a  force  deemed  adequate  to 
finish  the  conquest  of  the  whole  South. 

XXIV.  The  Southern  States  were  full  of  Tories.  The 
ferocious  partisan  warfare  that  had  raged  in  Georgia  for 
many  months  now  extended  to  South  Carolina,  involving 
the  State  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea.  The  history  of  the 
Revolution  has  not  its  parallel.  With  its  swamp  encamp¬ 
ments,  night  marches,  hard-fought  battles,  desperate  ven¬ 
tures,  and  narrow  escapes,  this  is  the  most  thrilling  chapter 
in  the  whole  history  of  the  war.  In  these  encounters  Colo¬ 
nel  Tarleton,  commander  of  Cornwallis’s  dragoons,  greatly 
distinguished  himself  on  the  one  side,  and  Generals  Sumter 
and  Marion  on  the  other. 

XXV.  General  Gates,  the  victor  of  Saratoga,  was  now 
the  commander  of  the  Southern  army  ;  completely  defeated 
at  Camden  in  August,  1780,  he  disappeared  from  the  scene, 
and  General  Greene  succeeded  him.  By  pursuing  a  policy 
at  once  bold  and  wary,  now  advancing  and  now  retreat¬ 
ing,  now  fighting  and  now  eluding  his  enemy,  Greene  re¬ 
stored  the  desperate  fortunes  of  the  war.  General  Morgan, 
one  of  his  subordinates,  defeated  Tarleton  at  Cowpens,  in 
January,  1781.  Greene  himself  was  defeated  at  Guilford 
Court  House  in  March  of  the  same  year,  but  Cornwallis 
gained  nothing  by  the  victory,  and  soon  retired  to  Wilming¬ 
ton  on  the  coast.  Greene  now  moved  down  into  South 
Carolina,  where  he  found  Lord  Rawdon  in  command  of  the 
English  forces.  Here  Greene  was  generally  defeated  in  the 
fighting,  but  he  conducted  his  campaign  with  such  caution, 
activity,  and  prudence,  that  by  the  end  of  the  year  he  had 
practically  shut  the  enemy  up  in  Charleston  and  Savannah. 
He  won  also  the  important  battle  of  Eutaw  Springs. 

XXVI.  Cornwallis,  at  Wilmington,  knew  nothing  of 
Greene’s  march  to  South  Carolina  until  it  was  too  late  to 
stop  him.  So,  thinking  Lord  Rawdon  strong  enough  to 
hold  that  State,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  North.  Since 


A  CONSPECTUS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  243 


January  a  British  force  had  been  in  the  waters  of  Virginia, 
burning  towns  and  laying  waste  plantations.  Cornwallis 
took  now  the  resolution  to  march  to  the  Chesapeake,  effect 
a  junction  with  this  force,  and  subdue  Virginia.  The  march 
was  made  and  the  junction  effected,  and  his  lordship  found 
himself  in  command  of  eight  thousand  men.  In  obedience 
to  orders  from  New  York  to  hold  and  fortify  some  point  on 
the  coast  accessible  to  the  fleet,  he  made  choice  of  the  junc¬ 
tion  of  James  and  York  Rivers.  Cornwallis  arrived  in  Vir¬ 
ginia  in  May,  and  took  possession  of  Yorktown  in  August. 

XXVII.  General  Rochambeau,  with  a  French  armv,  had 
landed  at  Newport  in  the  summer  of  1780,  and  afterward 
joined  Washington  on  the  Hudson.  Early  in  1781  Wash¬ 
ington  began  to  threaten  New  York.  He  expected  the  ar¬ 
rival  of  a  French  force  strong  enough  to  enable  him  to 
invest  the  city.  But  in  August  he  learned  that  the  fleet  and 
army  about  to  arrive  on  the  coast  from  the  West  Indies, 
to  remain  four  months  only,  were  destined  for  Chesapeake 
Bay.  He  now  resolved  to  march  rapidly  to  Virginia,  join 
the  French,  and  capture  Cornwallis  before  succor  could 
reach  him  from  the  North.  Accordingly  he  put  his  own 
and  Rochambeau’s  troops  in  motion  for  the  South,  leaving 
a  force  sufficient  to  hold  his  old  line,  and  taking  pains  to 
conceal  his  purpose  from  Clinton,  until  his  left  flank  was 
beyond  striking  distance  from  New  York. 

XXVIII.  The  fleet  of  Count  Be  Grasse  arrived  in  the 
Capes  at  the  end  of  August.  This  fleet  closed  the  bay  to 
Cornwallis’s  escape,  and  beat  off  a  British  squadron  sent  to 
his  relief.  The  allied  army  from  the  North  marched  to  the 
head  of  the  Chesapeake,  and  was  then  conveyed  down  the 
bay  in  transports.  Lafayette  had  commanded  for  some 
time  a  small  force  in  Virginia,  with  which  he  had  vainly 
sought  to  oppose  the  British.  A  junction  of  the  various 
forces  was  speedily  effected,  and  on  September  30  the  invest¬ 
ment  of  Yorktown  began.  So  vigorously  and  skillfully  was 
the  siege  prosecuted  that  Lord  Cornwallis,  unable  longer 
to  resist  the  attacks  by  land,  or  to  escape  by  sea,  on  Octo- 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


2U 

ber  19,  1781,  surrendered  his  army,  with  all  his  artillery^ 
stores,  and  munitions  of  war.  And  this  ended  the  Virginia 
campaign. 

XXIX.  The  campaign  in  Virginia  over,  De  Grasse  sailed 
with  the  French  fleet  to  the  West  Indies  ;  and  Washington, 
having  first  sent  a  re-enforcement  to  Greene,  returned  to  his 
watch  on  the  Hudson.  The  surrender  of  Cornwallis  was 
the  real  end  of  the  contest.  Partisan  warfare  went  on  at 
the  South  some  time  longer,  but  the  great  armies  now  stood 
still,  waiting  the  motions  of  the  diplomatists.  Yorktown 
produced  a  profound  impression  in  England.  Opposition 
to  the  continuance  of  the  war  became  so  strong,  that  George 
III  was  compelled  to  consent  to  peace  and  to  independence. 
Negotiations  between  the  representatives  of  the  two  Govern¬ 
ments  began  in  Paris  in  April,  1782,  but  events  moved  so 
slowly  that  it  was  November  30th  before  the  preliminary 
treaty  of  peace  was  signed.  In  July,  1782,  the  British  evacu¬ 
ated  Savannah,  in  December  of  the  same  year  Charleston, 
and  in  November,  1783,  New  York.  Washington  disbanded 
the  Continental  army  in  April,  1783,  and  in  December  fol¬ 
lowing  surrendered  his  commission  to  Congress.  The  de¬ 
finitive  treaty  of  peace  bears  the  date,  September  3,  1783. 

To  put  such  a  general  view  as  this  before  a  pupil  when 
he  begins  the  history  of  the  Revolution  would  be  to  invite 
failure.  The  pupil  must  begin  with  details,  and  gradually 
work  out  his  own  generalization.  A  conspectus  is  the  end 
and  not  the  beginning  of  the  study.  At  the  same  time,  the 
teacher  can  not  assist  the  pupil  to  gain  that  end  unless  he 
clearly  sees  the  conspectus  from  the  beginning. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  WAR  OP  1812. 

• 

References, — Bancroft,  Hildreth,  Bryant  and  Gay,  Schouler,  and 
Adams:  Histories  of  the  United  States;  Winsor:  The  Narrative 
and  Critical  History  of  America;  Hart:  Formation  of  the  Union, 
1750-1829. 

The  War  of  1812  presents  to  our  view  a  large  number  of 
military  operations  scattered  over  wide  areas,  and  more  or 
less  isolated  and  disconnected  in  character.  It  is  even  more 
difficult  to  reduce  them  to  something  like  unity  than  it  is  to 
perform  the  same  office  in  the  case  of  the  He  volution.  We 
must  first  seize  the  geographical  relations  of  the  United 
States  and  the  American  possessions  of  Great  Britain,  ob¬ 
serve  the  distribution  of  population,  compare  the  military 
and  naval  strength  of  the  two  powers,  and  master  the 
main  ideas  that  they  desired  to  carry  out.  A  glance  at 
■these  factors  will  show  that,  save  on  the  ocean,  the  war  was 
necessarily  confiued  to  three  great  theaters  :  the  Northern 
frontier,  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  the  Gulf  coast. 

The  naval  superiority  of  England  made  an  invasion  of 
Canada  by  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  impossible,  and  also 
precluded  attacks  upon  the  British  West  Indies.  Further¬ 
more,  the  vast  wilderness  extending  from  the  St.  Croix  to 
the  cleft  that  divides  the  Appalachian  Mountains  was  a  se¬ 
cure  shield  to  Canada,  and  also  to  New  England.  The 
Champlain-Richelieu  Valley — the  old  highway  of  war — 
still  lay  open  to  both  powers.  In  the  regiou  of  the  upper 
lakes  the  only  war  that  was  possible  was  a  war  of  posts. 
But  at  the  narrowing  of  the  great  Northern  water-way  the 


24G 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


combatants  could  get  at  and  strike  each  other  :  the  Detroit 
River,  the  Niagara  River,  and  the  upper  St.  Lawrence.  Even 
at  these  places,  however,  war  could  be  carried  on  only  under 
great  difficulties.  In  1810  there  was  not  a  considerable  town 
in  the  western  half  of  New  York  ;  the  names  Syracuse, 
Rochester,  and  Buffalo  do  not  appear  on  the  map.  The 
population  of  Ohio  was  230,000,  Indiana  25,000,  Illinois 
12,000,  Micliigan  5,000,  in  the  first  three  States  mostly  found 
in  the  southern  parts,  and  in  the  fourth  in  and  around  De¬ 
troit.  The  total  population  of  Canada  was  but  400,000,  of 
which  a  quarter  only  was  found  in  the  present  province  of 
Ontario.  Good  roads  did  not  exist  on  either  side  of  the  fron¬ 
tier,  and  transportation  was  difficult  and  expensive.  The 
lakes  could  not  become  scenes  of  naval  confiict  until  both 
powers  could  construct  armed  vessels. 

The  enormous  preponderance  of  England’s  naval  force 
made  it  easy  for  her  to  blockade  the  whole  coast  from  the 
St.  Croix  to  the  St.  Marys,  and  also  to  land  troops  at  almost 
any  point  that  she  chose.  Halifax,  the  Bermudas,  and  Ja¬ 
maica  furnished  the  best  possible  bases  of  operation  for  these 
purposes.  In  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  her  naval  supremacy  and 
her  naval  stations  enabled  England  to  do  as  she  pleased,  so 
long  as  she  kept  within  cannon  shot  of  her  ships  of  war. 

Although  the  three  regions  now  mentioned  were  exten¬ 
sive,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  arrange  the  facts  in  due  order, 
were  it  not  for  the  elements  of  time  and  causation.  These 
complicate  the  problem.  Geography  and  causation,  how¬ 
ever,  are  so  closely  related  that  we  may  consider  them  as 
one.  Accordingly,  three  questions  arise  relating  to  method  : 

1.  Shall  we  arrange  the  facts  in  three  great  groups  or 
series,  as  though  the  whole  action  were  confiLned  to  the  three 
regions  respectively  ?  This  would  be  excluding  the  time 
element,  save  as  it  appears  within  the  groups.  It  would  be 
a  simple  method,  but  it  would  leave  wholly  out  of  view,  in 
every  case,  what  was  going  on  in  the  two  other  regions  at 
the  same  time.  The  result  would  be  that  our  views  would 
be  partial  ones. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812. 


247 


2.  Shall  we  pay  exclusive  attention  to  time,  arranging  the 
facts  in  the  order  of  the  dates  on  which  they  occur,  without 
regard  to’  place  or  causation  ?  This  would  also  be  simple, 
but  it  would  be  open  to  the  fatal  objection  that  events  would 
be  thrown  wholly  out  of  geographical  and  causal  relation, 
and  that  the  pupil  would  form  a  general  picture  of  the 
whole  field,  but  not  a  clear  picture  of  any  part  of  it. 

3.  Shall  we  combine  the  two  methods  just  suggested,  par¬ 
tially  sacrificing  time  to  place,  and  place  to  time,  thus  some¬ 
what  complicating  the  picture,  but  also  heightening  the 
effect  produced  by  its  several  parts  ?  This,  no  doubt,  is  the 
proper  course  to  follow.  It  can  be  followed  the  more  readily 
because,  for  the  first  year,  little  was  done  save  at  the 
North. 

The  War  of  1812  was  forced  upon  the  country,  under 
great  provocation  indeed,  by  the  Young  Republicans,  who 
then  dominated  the  Republican  party  and  the  country. 
These  political  leaders  promised  in  advance  that  the  war 
should  be  one  of  conquest.  Mr.  Clay,  easily  the  first  of 
them,  declared  :  “We  can  take  Canada  without  soldiers. 
We  have  only  to  send  officers  into  the  province,  and  the 
people,  disaffected  toward  their  own  Government,  will  rally 
round  our  standard.  .  .  .  We  have  the  Canadas  as  much  un¬ 
der  our  command  as  Great  Britain  has  the  ocean,  and  the 
way  to  conquer  her  on  the  ocean  is  to  drive  her  from  the 
land.  I  am  not  for  stopping  at  Quebec  or  anywhere  else, 
but  I  would  take  the  whole  continent  from  them  and  ask  no 
favors.”  John  Randolph,  ridiculing  such  pretensions  as 
these,  said  the  Young  Republicans  looked  for  a  “holiday 
campaign,  with  no  expense  of  blood  or  treasure  on  our 
part,  but  Canada  was  to  conquer  herself,  to  be  subdued  by 
the  principal  of  fraternity.”  But  the  British  did  not  intend 
to  permit  the  war  to  become  one  of  defense  merely  ;  the 
home  Government  prepared  to  support  the  Canadians  with 
all  the  troops  and  ships  that  could  be  spared  from  the  great 
struggle  then  going  on  in  Europe. 

If  we  regard  the  Northern  water-way  as  an  arc  of  a  circle, 


248 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


we  shall  see  that  the  British  stood  within,  the  Americans 
without  that  arc.  This  relation  gave  the  British  important 
advantages  :  news,  orders,  troops  and  munitions  of  war, 
could  be  sent  from  Quebec  and  Montreal  to  Mackinaw  or 
Detroit  much  more  quickly  than  from  Washington  or  New 
York  ;  the  British  generals  could  move  on  chords  of  the 
circle,  while  the  Americans  were  compelled  to  move  on 
its  circumference.  General  Hull,  it  will  be  remembered, 
first  heard  of  the  declaration  of  war  from  the  enemy.  The 
British  had  another  great  advantage  in  their  Indian  allies. 
The  more  resolute  of  the  Western  Indians  had  never  made 
up  their  minds  that  the  West  was  lost  to  their  race  ;  and  be¬ 
fore  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities,  Tecumseh,  passing  back 
and  forth  between  the  Indians  of  the  North  and  of  the  South, 
had  succeeded  in  constructing  his  ‘‘  dam  ”  to  hold  back  “  the 
mighty  waters  ready  to  overflow  his  people.”  The  people 
of  Michigan  complained  with  reason  that  they  stood  on  a 
double  frontier,  facing  outward  toward  Canada  and  inward 
toward  the  Indians.  As  a  vigorous  writer  has  said  : 

During  the  War  of  1812  there  was  played  out  the  final  act  in 
the  military  drama  of  which  the  West  had  been  the  stage  during 
the  lifetime  of  a  generation.  For  this  war  had  a  twofold  aspect : 
on  the  seaboard  it  was  regarded  as  a  contest  for  the  rights  of  our 
sailors  and  as  a  revolt  against  Great  Britain’s  domineering  inso¬ 
lence  ;  west  of  the  mountains,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  simply  a  re¬ 
newal  on  a  large  scale  of  the  Indian  struggles,  all  the  red-skinned 
peoples  joining  together  in  a  great  and  last  effort  to  keep  the  lands 
which  were  being  wrested  from  them  ;  and  there  Great  Britain’s  part 
was  chiefiy  that  of  ally  to  the  savages,  helping  them  with  her  gold 
and  with  her  well-drilled  mercenary  troops.  The  battle  of  the 
Thames  is  memorable  rather  because  of  the  defeat  and  death  of  Te¬ 
cumseh  than  because  of  the  flight  of  Proctor  and  the  capture  of  his 
British  regulars ;  and  for  the  opening  of  the  Southwest,  the  ferocious 
fight  nt  the  Horseshoe  Bend  was  almost  as  important  as  the  far 
more  famous  contest  of  New  Orleans.* 


*  Roosevelt :  Thomas  11.  Benton  (Commonwealth  Series),  p.  8. 


249 


THE  WAR  OF  1812. 


1812.  The  war  opened  in  the  Northwest.  Hull’s  inva¬ 
sion  of  Canada  proved  a  miserable  failure,  and  on  August  16 
he  surrendered  Detroit  and  all  Michigan  to  General  Brock. 
A  British  force  from  Georgian  Bay  had  seized  Mackinaw 
still  earlier.  It  is  evident  that  the  British  ministry  medi¬ 
tated  the  reconquest  of  the  whole  region.  Their  Indian 
allies  drew  them  to  the  Detroit  frontier.  Green  Bay  soon 
followed  Mackinaw,  and  in  1814  a  strong  force  of  Canadians 
and  Indians  captured  Prairie  du  Chien,  from  which  point  a 
smaller  force  descended  the  Mississippi  to  Rock  Island, 
which  it  fortified  and  held.  The  purpose  of  the  home 
Government  accounts  for  the  course  of  General  Proctor  in 
seeking  to  coerce  the  citizens  of  Detroit  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  Eung  of  England. 

Hull’s  crossing  of  the  Detroit  was  only  one  of  several 
projected  offensive  movements  for  the  year  1812.  One 
army  of  invasion  was  collected  on  the  Niagara,  a  second  at 
the  foot  of  Lake  Ontario  and  the  head  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  a  third  at  Plattsburg,  on  Lake  Champlain.  While  none 
of  these  expeditions  proved  as  disastrous  as  Hull’s,  they  all 
signally  failed  to  accomplish  their  purpose.  General  Brown 
repelled  an  attack  upon  Ogdenshurg,  hut  Van  Rensselaer’s 
and  Symthe’s  attempts  on  Queenstown  Heights  and  Fort 
Erie  came  to  nothing,  while  Dearborn’s  advance  upon 
Montreal  from  Plattsburg  did  not  go  beyond  the  interna¬ 
tional  line. 

1813.  The  most  important  operations  of  the  next  year 
were  on  the  Detroit  River  and  near  the  head  of  Lake  Erie. 
In  this  quarter  General  Harrison  had  been  put  in  command, 
and  he  did  his  utmost  to  drive  the  British  forces  hack  upon 
their  own  soil.  The  battles  of  the  Raisin,  Fort  Meigs,  and 
Fort  Stephenson  require  only  mention.  General  Hull  had 
told  the  authorities  at  Washington,  before  hostilities  began, 
that  the  command  of  Lake  Erie  was  essential  to  success ;  the 
Government  wholly  neglected  bis  advice,  but  the  British  put 
afioat  a  squadron  that  commanded  the  lake  and  rendered 
the  possession  of  Detroit  secure.  Commodore  Perry’s  capture 

18 


250 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


of  this  squadron,  on  September  10,  1813,  reversed  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  war  on  that  frontier.  General  Harrison  now 
crossed  to  the  Canadian  side  and  occupied  Malden,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  which  Proctor  had  abandoned.  The 
evacuation  of  Detroit  by  the  British,  its  reoccupation  by  the 
Americans,  the  pursuit  of  Proctor,  and  the  victory  of  the 
Thames  soon  followed.  These  successes  practically  closed  the 
contest  on  that  frontier,  so  far  as  civilized  warfare  was  con¬ 
cerned.  Harrison  returned  from  the  Thames  to  the  Detroit, 
and  sailed  with  the  regular  troops  under  his  command  for 
Buffalo. 

All  this  year  war  raged  on  the  Niagara  and  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence,  with  alternate  successes  and  defeats.  Late  in  the  sea¬ 
son  two  armies  began  to  move  upon  Montreal,  one  down 
the  St.  Lawrence  under  General  Wilkinson,  the  other  down 
Lake  Champlain  under  General  Hampton,  but  both  ex¬ 
peditions  were  abandoned  long  before  they  reached  their 
destination.  Commodore  Chauncey,  our  naval  commander 
on  Lake  Ontario,  rendered  services  less  briUiant  than 
Perry’s,  but  still  efficient  and  valuable. 

In  1813  England  established  an  efficient  blockade  along 
our  whole  ocean  front.  An  ingenious  writer  has  likened 
the  navigable  waters  that  stretch  up  into  Virginia  to  “  fin¬ 
gers  of  an  ocean  hand,  ready  to  bear  to  all  the  world  the 
produce  of  the  soil  ”  ;  they  gave  equal  opportunities  for  the 
operations  of  war,  as  the  history  of  three  wars  well  shows. 
Early  in  the  year  the  British  seized  the  wrist — that  is,  the  en¬ 
trance  to  Chesapeake  Bay — and  prepared  to  make  the  most 
of  their  success.  But  the  principal  events  in  that  quarter 
came  the  following  year. 

1814.  The  tide  of  battle  at  the  North  now  took  a  favor¬ 
able  turn.  The  Americans  won  important  advantages  on  the 
Niagara.  The  most  notable  occurrence  was  the  formidable 
military  and  naval  expedition  that  was  sent  from  Canada  to 
effect  a  purpose  like  the  one  that  Burgoyne  had  attempted 
in  1777.  It  advanced  to  Plattsburg  ;  but  Commodore  Dow¬ 
ney  was  compelled  to  strike  his  colors  to  Macdonough,  and 


THE  WAR  OF  1812. 


251 


then  Sir  George  Prevost,  commander  of  the  land  force,  beat 
a  hasty  retreat  to  Canada. 

The  same  year  the  enemy  prepared  to  strike  a  fatal  blow 
in  the  Chesapeake  region.  Here  the  important  events  were 
the  British  march  upon  Washington,  the  battle  of  Bladens- 
burg,  the  capture  of  the  city,  the  unsuccessful  bombardment 
of  Port  McHenry,  and  the  battle  of  Baltimore.  These  opera¬ 
tions  over,  Admiral  Cockburn  established  his  headquarters 
on  Cumberland  Island,  off  the  Georgia  coast.  In  1813,  also, 
a  British  force  seized  Maine  as  far  west  as  the  Penobscot, 
with  a  view  of  changing  the  boundary  on  that  frontier  on 
the  conclusion  of  peace. 

At  the  South  events  may  be  treated  consecutively.  In 
1810  Louisiana  had  a  population  of  76,000  ;  the  Southwest 
Territory,  now  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  40,000  ;  Tennessee, 
261,000  ;  and  Kentucky,  406,000.  The  powerful  Creek  Con¬ 
federacy  occupied  an  extensive  region  north  of  the  Gulf. 
In  that  year  the  United  States  took  possession  of  Mobile,  al¬ 
though  Spain  claimed  it  as  lying  within  her  territory.  In 
1813  the  Tennessee  militia  were  called  out,  under  General 
Jackson,  to  overawe  the  Creeks,  but  as  the  savages  appeared 
peaceable  the  troops  were  disbanded.  Then  followed  the 
bloody  massacre  of  Fort  Mimms,  near  Mobile,  in  which  nearly 
five  hundred  men,  women,  and  children  were  slaughtered. 
Jackson  now  marched  into  the  Indian  country  and  infiicted 
upon  the  Creeks  a  series  of  defeats  that  effectually  broke 
their  power.  About  this  time  some  British  forces  arrived  on 
the  Gulf  coast,  and  there  ensued  the  bombardment  of  Port 
Bowyer  and  the  affair  of  Barrancas.  Jackson  also  seized 
Pensacola,  because,  as  he  said,  the  Spaniards  gave  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  Indians. 

In  1814  the  British  ministry  took  advantage  of  the  lull 
of  war  in  Europe  to  send  to  Canada,  to  the  Chesapeake,  and 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  strong  forces.  The  objects  of  the 
powerful  expedition  sent  to  the  Gulf  were  two  in  number  : 
to  seize  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  so  as  to  cut  the  interior 
off  once  more  from  the  sea,  and  to  occupy  and  hold  valuable 


252 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


territory  that  would  give  them  an  advantage  in  treating  for 
peace.  Instructions  issued  to  the  commanders  recommended 
attempts  to  seduce  the  people  of  Louisiana  from  their  alle¬ 
giance  to  the  United  States  and  to  effect  the  return  of  that 
territory  to  Spain.  These  were  large  plans.  Before  they 
could  be  executed,  however,  the  treaty  of  peace  negotiated 
at  Ghent  adjourned  them  indefinitely  ;  but  had  it  not  been 
so,  General  Jackson’s  brilliant  victory  at  New  Orleans  would 
have  made  them  impossible. 

In  the  negotiations  at  Ghent  the  British  commissioners, 
acting  under  instructions,  sought  at  first  to  secure  large 
territorial  advantages.  They  demanded  (1)  that  a  neutral 
belt  between  the  United  States  and  Canada  should  be  estab¬ 
lished  for  the  perpetual  occupancy  of  the  Indians,  upon 
which  neither  party  should  be  permitted  to  encroach,  thus 
keeping  the  two  countries  asunder  ;  (2)  that  the  interna¬ 
tional  line  should  run  along  the  southern  side  of  the  Great 
Lakes  ;  and  (3)  that  a  strip  of  Maine  should  be  ceded  such  as 
would  give  England  a  road  from  Halifax  to  Quebec.  In  the 
end  the  boundaries  of  1783  were  re-established,  and  commis¬ 
sions  were  appointed  to  settle  all  disputed  points  respecting 
them,  as  will  be  explained  in  the  next  chapter.  The  Treaty 
of  Ghent  bears  the  date,  December  24, 1814. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


THE  TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

References, — I.  General  View.  Johnston:  Lalor’s  Cyclopaedia  of 
Political  Science  (Annexations);  Walker:  Statistical  Atlas  of  the 
United  States,  Ninth  Census ;  Winsor  and  Channing :  Narrative  and 
Critical  History  of  the  United  States  (Appendix  to  Chap.  VIL,  Vol. 
VIL);  Donaldson:  The  Public  Domain ;  Hart :  The  Quarterly  Jour¬ 
nal  of  Economics,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  169,  251  (The  Disposition  of  our  Public 
Lands),  The  Epoch  Maps ;  Reclus :  The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants, 
North  America,  III.  (The  United  States,  Chap.  I.);  MacCoun:  His¬ 
torical  Geography  of  the  United  States ;  McMaster :  History  of  the 
People  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  II.  (map  showing  land  acquired 
by  the  United  States  from  1783  to  1885). 

II.  Treaties.  Government  publications:  Treaties  and  Conven¬ 
tions  between  the  United  States  and  other  Powers :  The  Statutes  at 
Large  of  the  United  States ;  Charters  and  Constitutions  (edited  by 
Poore);  The  Resolution  to  admit  Texas,  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  IX., 
p.  108,  and  Poore,  Vol.  II.,  p.  1764. 

HI.  Territorial  claims  made  by  Congress  at  the  Revolution. 
The  Secret  Journals  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation,  Vol.  II., 
pp.  225,  326,  445;  Vol.  III.,  p.  155;  Winsor:  Narrative  and  Critical 
History,  Vol.  VII.  (editorial  notes  to  Chap.  II.). 

IV.  Negotiations  at  Paris,  1782-’83.  Diplomatic  Correspondence 
of  the  Revolution,  Vol.  X.,  p.  7  (report  made  by  the  American  com¬ 
missioners);  id.,  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.  21,  129  (Jay’s  Letters);  Bancroft: 
History,  Vol.  V.,  Chaps.  V.-VII. :  Jay:  The  Peace  Negotiations  of 
1782,  1783,  an  address  delivered  before  the  New  York  Historical 
Society,  November  27,  1883,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  Vol. 
VII.,  Chap.  II.  (The  peace  negotiations  of  1782-'83) ;  Winsor :  Nar¬ 
rative  and  Critical  History  (editorial  notes  to  Vol.  VII.,  Chap.  VII.) ; 


254 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Wharton :  International  Law  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  III.,  Appen¬ 
dix  ;  (Peace  negotiations  of  1782-’83  with  Great  Britain) ;  Angell : 
Narrative  and  Critical  History,  Vol.  VII.,  Chap.  VII.  (The  diplo¬ 
macy  of  the  United  States) ;  Lyman  :  The  Diplomacy  of  the  United 
States,  Vol.  I.;  Lecky;  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen¬ 
tury,  Vol.  IV.,  Chap.  XV. ;  Lord  Fitzmaurice:  Life  of  William  Earl 
Shelburne,  Vol.  III.,  Chaps.  IV.,  VI.;  John  Adams:  Works,  Vol.  I. 
(Appendix  6). 

V.  Louisiana.  Adams :  History  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
Vol.  I.,  Chaps.  XIV.-XVIL,  Vol.  II.,  Chaps.  II.- V.  (the  best  existing 
account);  McMaster:  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  II.,  Chap.  XIII. ;  Hart :  The  Formation  of  the  Constitution ; 
Von  Holst:  Constitutional  and  Political  History  of  the  United 
States,  1750-1828;  Lyman,  Angell,  Hildreth,  and  Schouler:  as  be¬ 
fore  ;  Jefferson’s  writings,  Vol.  IV. 

VI.  Florida.  Adams,  Lyman,  Hildreth,  Schouler,  Angell,  Von 
Holst,  and  Hart:  as  before;  Morse:  John  Quincy  Adams;  Gilman: 
James  Monroe;  Sumner:  Andrew  Jackson. 

VII.  Texas.  Schurz :  Henry  Clay ;  Roosevelt :  T.  H.  Benton ; 
Von  Holst :  The  Constitutional  and  Political  History,  1828-’46,  John 
C.  Calhoun ;  Benton :  Thirty  Years’  View  {passim) ;  Greeley :  The 
American  Conflict,  Vol.  I. ;  Yoakum:  History  of  Texas ;' Wilson : 
Division  and  Reunion ;  Schouler :  as  before. 

VIII.  The  first  Mexican  annexation.  Schurz,  Roosevelt,  Benton, 
Greeley,  Schouler,  and  Wilson:  as  before;  Von  Holst:  Constitu¬ 
tional  and  Political  History  of  the  United  States,  1846-’50,  John  C. 
Calhoun. 

IX.  The  second  Mexican  annexation.  Schouler  and  Wilson :  as 
before;  Von  Holst :  Constitutional  and  Political  History,  1850-’54. 

X.  Oregon.  Barrows :  Oregon ;  Greenhow :  History  of  Ore¬ 
gon  and  California;  Benton:  Thirty  Years’  View;  H.  H.  Bancroft: 
History  of  Oregon ;  Curtis :  Life  of  James  Buchanan,  Life  of  Daniel 
Webster. 

XL  Alaska.  H.  H.  Bancroft :  History  of  Alaska ;  Sumner : 
Works,  Vol.  XI.,  p.  181  (The  Cession  of  Russian  America  to  the 
United  States). 

In  1783  the  United  States  contained  eight  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  square  miles  of  territory.  At  present  they 
contain  three  million  five  hundred  thousand  square  miles. 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  255 


If  we  follow  the  steps  of  this  extraordinary  territorial 
growth  we  shall  pass  in  review  some  of  the  principal  forces 
that  have  acted  in  the  national  history,  and  also  furnish  an 
illustration  of  the  organization  of  facts. 

/.  The  Original  United  States, 

The  Treaty  of  Paris,  made  with  England  at  the  close  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  established  our  independence,  and 
also  gave  us  our  first  national  boundaries,  as  follows  :  North,, 
the  highlands  dividing  the  rivers  that  flow  to  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence  from  the  rivers  that  flow  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the 
Connecticut  River  from  its  source  to  paraUel  45°  north,  said 
parallel  to  its  intersection  with  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  middle 
of  the  Lake  and  St.  Lawrence  water-way  to  Long  Lake,  the 
middle  of  this  lake  and  the  water  connections  beyond  it  to  the 
northwesternmost  corner  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  and  a 
line  drawn  due  west  from  this  point  to  the  Mississippi  River ; 
West,,  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  from  this  point  of  inter¬ 
section  to  parallel  31°  north  latitude  ;  South,  parallel  31°  to 
the  Chattahoochee  River,  the  middle  of  this  stream  to  its 
junction  with  the  Flint,  a  straight  line  drawn  from  this 
junction  to  the  head  of  the  St.  Marys,  and  the  middle  of  the 
St.  Marys  to  the  sea  ;  East,  the  ocean,  including  all  islands 
within  twenty  leagues  of  the  coast,  save  such  as  belonged  to 
Nova  Scotia,  the  middle  of  the  St.  Croix  River  from  its  mouth 
to  its  source,  and  a  straight  line  drawn  due  north  from  such 
source  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

The  rule  that  the  negotiators  on  both  sides  professed  to 
follow  was,  that  the  United  States  should  comprise  the  terri¬ 
tory  that  the  thirteen  colonies  collectively  had  comprised  ; 
but  the  boundaries  of.  the  colonies  had  been  so  vaguely  de¬ 
fined  that  serious  differences  of  opinion  arose  as  to  the  appli¬ 
cation  of  the  rule.  At  first,  the  American  commissioners 
claimed  that  the  St.  Johns  was  the  old  boundary  between 
New  England  and  Nova  Scotia,  while  the  English  insisted 
first  upon  the  Piscataqua  and  afterward  the  Kennebec,  and 
the  Penobscot.  On  the  north.  Congress  had  instructed  its 


256 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


representatives  to  contend  for  a  straight  line  from  the  inter¬ 
section  of  the  forty-fifth  parallel  and  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the 
foot  of  Lake  Nipissing,  and  a  due  west  line  from  this  point  to 
the  Mississippi,  but  afterward  authorized  them  to  accept  the 
parallel  of  45°  from  the  Connecticut  River  to  the  Mississippi. 
On  the  west,  the  Americans,  acting  under  instructions,  con¬ 
tended  that  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi,  which  was  made  the 
dividing  line  between  England  and  Spain  in  1763,  had  been 
the  western  boundary  of  the  colonies  since  that  time,  and 
was  now  therefore  the  proper  limit  of  the  States,  and  in  sup¬ 
port  of  this  claim  they  advanced  the  ancient  charters  that 
had  run  through  the  continent  from  sea  to  sea  and  the 
Iroquois  title  of  New  York.  The  British  diplomatists  replied 
that  the  old  charters  had  long  before  been  annulled,  and  held 
that  a  royal  proclamation  issued  in  1763  had  limited  the  colo¬ 
nies  on  the  west  by  a  line  so  drawn  that  it  would  separate  the 
heads  of  the  streams  of  the  Atlantic  Plain  from  those  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  Still,  south  of  the  Ohio  they  were  will¬ 
ing  to  yield  ;  north  of  that  river  the  country  should  remain 
a  dependency  of  Canada.  The  Americans  denied  that  the 
proclamation  of  1763  had  established  a  new  boundary  line, 
while  they  pointed  to  the  facts  that  there  were  already  con¬ 
siderable  settlements  of  American  citizens  south  of  the  Ohio, 
and  that  the  region  northwest  of  that  river  had  been  con¬ 
quered  by  American  troops  in  1778,  and  had  since  been  held 
by  them.  Spain  had  ceded  Florida  to  England  in  1763,  but 
in  the  course  of  the  war  that  she  declared  against  England 
in  1779  she  had  recovered  most  of  it ;  moreover,  she  was  de¬ 
sirous  of  retaining  all  Florida  at  the  peace,  and  also  of 
obtaining  possession  of  the  eastern  haK  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  south  of  the  Ohio.  England  finally  agreed  that  the 
parallel  of  31°  should  be  our  boundary  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Chattahoochee,  but  insisted  upon  the  insertion  of  a 
secret  article  in  the  treaty,  to  the  effect  that  the  parallel  pass¬ 
ing  through  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  between  these  two 
rivers,  should  be  the  boundary,  provided  she  should  still 
retain  Florida  at  the  conclusion  of  peace  ;  but  as  Florida 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  257 


passed  to  Spain  in  1783  this  secret  article  fell  to  the 
ground. 

Such  were  our  first  boundaries  as  drawn  upon  paper. 
Drawn  upon  the  earth,  they  led  through  vast  wastes  of  forest 
and  waters  of  which  the  geography  was  largely  unknown, 
and  nothing  was  more  natural  than  that  disputes  should 
arise  between  the  parties  when  the  time  came  to  run  out  and 
mark  the  lines. 

First,  England  ceded  Florida  to  Spain  about  the  time 
that  she  gave  us  our  boundaries,  without  assigning  any 
limits  whatever.  As  England  in  1764  had  bounded  the  west¬ 
ern  province  of  Florida  on  the  north  by  the  parallel  passing 
through  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Chattahoochee,  Spain  now  claimed  that  parallel  as  her 
northern  limit.  In  1795  she  yielded  the  point  in  our  favor, 
and  a  few  years  later  the  line  was  surveyed  and  marked. 

On  the  north,  the  first  controversy  was  as  to  the  identity 
of  the  St.  Croix  River.  This  was  settled  in  the  interest  of 
the  United  States  in  1798,  by  a  joint  commission  appointed 
under  one  of  the  articles  of  Jay’s  treaty  of  four  years  be¬ 
fore.  The  Treaty  of  Ghent  (1814)  divided  the  boundary 
questions  at  issue  between  the  two  contracting  powers  into 
four  groups,  and  referred  them  to  three  joint  commissions. 
The  first  commission  should  deal  with  the  islands  in  Passa- 
maquoddy  and  Fundy  Bays  ;  the  second  commission  should 
locate  the  line  from  the  head  of  the  St.  Croix  to  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence  ;  while  the  third  one  should  first  run  and  mark  the 
Lake  and  St.  Lawrence  boundary  to  the  head  of  Lake  Huron, 
and  afterward  the  remaining  section  to  the  farthest  corner  of 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  The  first  commission  completed  its 
work  in  1817,  and  the  third  one  finished  the  water-way  line 
to  the  head  of  Lake  Huron  in  1822.  The  second  commission 
could  not  agree,  nor  could  the  third  one  agree  as  to  the  Lake 
Superior  division.  The  controversies  as  to  these  two  sec¬ 
tions  of  our  northern  boundary  were  finally  disposed  of  by 
the  Webster- Ashburton  treaty  of  1842.  Long  before  this,  it 
had  been  discovered  that  the  Mississippi  could  not  be  reached 


258 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


by  drawing  a  line  due  west  from  the  northwestern  point  of 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  Still  further,  the  United  States  had 
purchased  Louisiana  without  definite  limits,  which  made  it 
necessary  for  the  two  powers  to  establish  a  boundary  between 
that  province  and  Canada.  The  two  questions  were  dis¬ 
posed  of  in  1818,  by  a  treaty  which  provided  that  a  due  north- 
and-south  line  should  be  drawn  through  the  farthest  point 
of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  and 
that  parallel  49°  should  be  the  boundary  between  the  two 
<5ountries  from  the  point  of  intersection  to  the  Stony  Moun¬ 
tains.  These  several  treaties  account  for  the  Minnesota 
“jog.” 

II.  Louisiana. 

In  a  previous  chapter  we  have  seen  that  English  setMe- 
ments  west  of  the  Alleghanies  did  not  begin  until  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  last  century.  Even  then  they  increased  but 
slowly,  until  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  cen¬ 
sus  takers  of  1790  reported  228,758  people  on  the  Western 
waters,  63,518  in  Pennsylvania,  55,873  in  western  Virginia, 
73,677  in  Kentucky,  and  35,691  in  Te'bnessee.  In  1800  this 
population  had  increased  to  584,728,  and  in  1810  to  1,279,172. 
The  relative  increase  was  even  more  significant.  In  1790 
the  Western  population  was  less  than  six  per  cent  of  that  of 
the  whole  country,  in  1800  more  than  eleven  per  cent,  and  in 
1810  nearly  eighteen  per  cent.  For  their  numbers  these  peo¬ 
ple  were  remarkable  for  enterprise  and  force.  In  respect  to 
markets  and  travel  they  had  practically  cut  themselves  off 
from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  by  crossing  the  mountains.  The 
only  practicable  roads  were  the  Indian  trails,  which  could  be 
traveled  only  by  pack  horses,  and  by  the  trail  so  widened 
by  the  axe  as  to  admit  of  the  passage  of  wheeled  vehicles. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  century  the  best  road  from  Phila¬ 
delphia  or  Baltimore  to  Cincinnati  lay  through  the  Shenan¬ 
doah  Valley  and  Cumberland  Gap,  and  so  on  through  cen¬ 
tral  Kentucky.  Around  the  Western  people  lay  inexhaust¬ 
ible  quantities  of  virgin  lands,  as  productive  as  any  in  the 
world,  while  their  former  occupations,  habits,  and  tastes,  as 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  259 


well  as  the  conditions  of  pioneer  life,  confined  them  to  agri¬ 
cultural  pursuits.  Andrew  Ellicott,  Surveyor  General  of 
the  United  States,  as  he  floated  down  the  Ohio  in  1796,  ob¬ 
served  that  the  country  produced  all  the  immediate  neces¬ 
saries  of  life  in  quantities  far  beyond  the  consumption  of 
the  inhabitants,  and  that  there  was  a  large  surplus  of  these 
necessaries,  together  with  hemp,  cordage,  whisky,  apples, 
cider,  and  salted  provisions.  He  also  observed  the  lack  of 
manufactures,  of  markets  for  materials,  and  the  high  prices 
of  imported  goods,  and  reflected  that  to  these  causes  was 
due,  in  part,  the  character  which  had  been  given  to  the  peo¬ 
ple  as  insurgents  and  disorganizers.  Almost  the  only  article 
that  found  a  ready  market  at  home  and  would  command 
cash  was  distilled  spirits. 

But  while  Nature  had  thrust  a  mountain  barrier  between 
the  Western  people  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  she  had  pro¬ 
vided  for  them  a  grand  water-way  leading  to  the  outside 
world.  The  markets  of  New  Orleans,  the  Gulf  coast,  the 
West  Indies,  and  the  Atlantic  States  stood  ready  to  take  all 
the  bulky  but  cheap  commodities  that  the  West  could  pro¬ 
duce.  Hence  it  was  that  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote,  in  1802  : 
“  There  is  on  the  globe  one  single  spot  the  possessor  of  which 
is  our  natural  and  habitual  enemy.  It  is  New  Orleans, 
through  which  the  products  of  three  fifths  of  our  territory 
must  pass  to  market,  and  from  its  fertility  it  will  ere  long 
yield  more  than  one  half  of  our  whole  produce,  and  contain 
more  than  one  half  of  our  inhabitants.”  Mr.  Madison  did 
not  exaggerate  when  he  wrote  about  the  same  time  that,  to 
the  people  of  the  West,  the  Mississippi  was  everything.  The 
Hudson,  the  Delaware,  the  Potomac,  and  all  the  navigable 
streams  of  the  Atlantic  States  formed  into  one  stream.  But, 
unfortunately,  the  possession  of  the  outlet  of  this  great  nat¬ 
ural  highway  was  in  the  possession  of  a  foreign  x)ower. 

After  1763  Spain  owned  the  western  side  of  the  river 
and  the  island  of  New  Orleans,  and  after  1783  she  owned 
Florida  also.  Above  the  parallel  of  31°  the  United  States 
met  Spain  at  the  middle  thread  of  the  river,  but  below  that 


26u 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


line  they  enjoyed  no  privileges  except  such  as  Spain  saw 
fit  to  grant  them.*  Spain’s  old  jealousy  for  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  had  by  no  means  burned  out.  The  Mississippi  was 
the  great  road  from  the  Ohio  Valley  to  Mexico,  Florida,  and 
the  Gulf  islands,  as  well  as  to  New  Orleans.  In  fact,  Spain 
valued  New  Orleans  mainly  because  she  thought  it  essential 
to  the  security  of  possessions  that  she  prized  more  highly. 
Although  she  declared  war  against  England  in  1779,  she 
refused  to  enter  into  a  treaty  with  the  United  States  ;  in 
1782  she  strove  to  exclude  the  Republic  from  the  Mississippi 
altogether  ;  and  when  the  war  was  over  she  not  only  dis¬ 
puted  our  southern  boundary,  and  for  years  maintained 
troops  within  our  territory,  but  refused  to  come  to  any  un¬ 
derstanding  with  regard  to  navigation  and  commerce. 
Sometimes  the  port  of  New  Orleans  was  open  to  Ameri¬ 
cans,  sometimes  closed  ;  and  sometimes,  as  Mr.  Cable  has 
said,  it  was  “  neither  closed  nor  open” — which  means  that  it 
was  open  to  preferred  traders  who  were  in  collusion  with 
the  local  Spanish  authorities  and  closed  to  others.  When  a 
fleet  of  flatboats  left  the  Ohio  for  the  lower  Mississippi,  the 
men  in  charge  could  never  certainly  tell  whether  they 
would  safely  reach  their  destination  and  dispose  of  their 
commodities  at  remunerative  prices,  or  whether  the  boats 
would  be  seized  and  their  freight  confiscated.  As  Surveyor- 
General  Ellicott  descended  the  river,  even  after  the  treat v  of 
1795,  he  was  several  times  halted  and  detained  by  Spanish 
officers.  The  National  Government  could  not  for  the  time 
compel  Spain  to  come  to  terms  ;  and  the  Western  people,  or 
rather  a  portion  of  them,  thinking  the  Government  indiffer¬ 
ent  to  their  interests,  and  incited  by  restless  and  ambitious 


*  In  1763  France  ceded  to  Great  Britain  the  right  to  navigate  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi  in  its  whole  breadth  and  length,  from  its  source  to  the  sea,  and  in 
1782-’83  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  agreed  that  the  navigation  of 
the  river,  from  its  source  to  the  ocean,  should  forever  remain  free  and  open 
to  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States.  But 
his  Catholic  Majesty  denied  absolutely  that  these  treaties  gave  the  United 
States  any  rights  whatever  below  the  thirty-first  parallel. 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  261 


spirits,  sometimes  thought  of  seceding  from  the  Union,  seiz¬ 
ing  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  setting  up  for  them¬ 
selves,  and  sometimes  of  uniting  their  destiny  with  that  of 
the  Spaniards. 

In  1795  Spain  entered  for  the  first  time  into  treaty  rela¬ 
tions  with  the  United  States,  the  treaty  being  known  as  San 
Lorenzo.  She  now  confirmed  our  southern  and  western 
boundaries,  promised  to  withdraw  her  troops  from  our  terri¬ 
tory,  opened  the  navigation  of  the  river  in  its  whole  breadth, 
from  its  source  to  the  ocean,  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  also  granted  them  for  three  years  the  right  to 
deposit  and  reship  merchandise  in  the  port  of  New  Orleans 
without  duty  or  charge  other  than  a  fair  price  for  storage, 
promising  also  that  she  would,  on  the  expiration  of  the 
time,  assign  some  other  place  of  deposit  on  the  bank  of 
the  river.  For  a  time  matters  now  moved  more  smooth¬ 
ly  ;  but  in  1798  the  local  authority  suspended  the  right  of 
deposit,  and  thus  threw  the  West  into  a  new  ferment.  The 
royal  Government  restored  the  right  rather  than  incur  the 
danger  of  war.  Experience  had  now  fuUy  proved  that  the 
interests  of  the  West  could  never  be  safe  so  long  as  a  foreign 
power,  even  if  as  weak  and  placid  as  Spain,  owned  the  inouth 
of  the  Mississippi. 

In  1800  Bonaparte  compelled  Spain,  by  the  treaty  of  San 
Ildefonso,  to  retrocede  Louisiana  to  France.  For  a  time  the 
retrocession  was  kept  secret,  but  on  its  becoming  known  in 
the  United  States  it  produced  great  excitement,  and  particu¬ 
larly  in  the  West.  President  Jefferson  wrote  that  France, 
owing  to  the  impetuosity  of  her  temper  and  the  restlessness 
and  energy  of  her  character,  would  at  New  Orleans  be  in  a 
point  of  eternal  friction  with  the  United  States,  and  that  per¬ 
manent  peace  between  the  two  powers  would  be  impossible. 
He  declared  that  the  occlusion  of  the  Mississippi  was  a  state 
of  things  in  which  the  United  States  could  not  exist  ;  that 
the  river  was  so  indispensable  to  them  that  they  could  not 
hesitate  for  one  moment  to  hazard  their  existence  for  its 
maintenance  ;  and  that  whatever  power  other  than  them- 


262 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


selves  held  the  island  of  New  Orleans  was  their  natural 
enemy.  The  local  Spanish  authority,  which  was  still  in 
possession,  added  to  the  excitement  by  again  withdrawing 
the  right  of  deposit.  Congress  strove  to  meet  the  emer¬ 
gency  by  authorizing  the  purchase  of  the  island  for  two 
million  dollars,  and  Mr.  Monroe  was  sent  to  Paris  to  assist 
Minister  Livingston  in  the  negotiation.  But  Bonaparte  pro¬ 
posed  instead  to  sell  all  Louisiana,  which  our  Government 
hastened  to  purchase  at  the  price  of  fifteen  million  dollars. 

III.  Florida. 

The  King  of  Spain  gave  up  Louisiana  to  France  simply 
because  Bonaparte  compelled  him  to  do  so.  He  regarded 
the  province  as  an  outwork  of  Mexico,  and  no  other  dis¬ 
position  could  be  made  of  it  that  would  be  so  unwelcome 
to  him  as  its  transfer  to  the  United  States.  Naturally, 
therefore,  his  Government  at  once  set  about  confining  the 
province  within  the  narrowest  possible  limits. 

The  treaty  of  sale  merely  quoted  the  description  con¬ 
tained  in  the  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso  :  “  The  colony  or 
province  of  Louisiana  with  the  same  extent  that  it  now  has 
in  the  hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  France  pos¬ 
sessed  it,  and  such  as  it  should  have  after  the  treaties  subse¬ 
quently  entered  into  between  Spain  and  other  states.  ’’  What 
this  extent  was  could  be  ascertained  only  by  appealing  to 
History,  and  her  testimony  was  confiicting,  as  a  brief  re¬ 
cital  will  show. 

On  April  9,  1682,  La  Salle,  having  descended  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  to  its  mouth,  acting  in  the  name  of  his  royal  master, 
King  Louis  XIV,  of  France,  took  formal  possession  of  the 
region  that  he  named  Louisiana,  and  that  he  bounded  as 
follows  :  “  Extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  St. 
Louis,  otherwise  called  the  Ohio,  as  also  along  the  river  Col¬ 
bert,  or  Mississippi,  and  the  rivers  which  discharge  them¬ 
selves  thereinto,  from  its  source  beyond  the  country  of  the 
Nadoussioux  ...  as  far  as  its  mouth  at  the  sea,  or  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  also  to  the  mouth  of  the  River  of  Palma.”  The 


TEKRITOPwIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  26^ 


vast  territory,  lying  on  the  GuK  coast  between  the  Mobile 
and  the  Eio  Grande,  and  extending  to  the  farthest  sources 
of  the  Mississippi  and  of  all  its  affluents,  was  the  first  Lou¬ 
isiana.  Such  were  the  boundaries  laid  down  on  Franque- 
lin’s  great  map  of  1684. 

La  Salle  based  the  claim  that  he  made  for  France  on  dis¬ 
covery.  But  as  the  Pope  had  given  all  North  America  to 
Spain,  and  as  Spaniards  had  discovered  and  explored  por¬ 
tions  of  this  very  territory,  that  power  held  the  act  of  La  SaUe 
an  intrusion.  In  fact,  she  had  long  before  declared  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  a  closed  sea  to  all  powers  hut  herseK.  But  Spain 
had  lost  her  supremacy  among  the  powers  of  Europe^  and  she 
was  wholly  unable  to  exclude  France,  which  was  now  in  the 
ascendant,  from  the  Mississippi.  La  Salle’s  colony  intended 
for  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  either  by  accident  or  design, 
was  set  down  on  the  Texas  coast,  far  to  the  west,  where  it 
proved  a  disastrous  failure.  At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century  and  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  the  Spanish 
viceroys  of  Mexico,  acting  under  instructions,  sent  soldiers 
and  colonists  into  Texas  to  hold  it  for  the  King  of  Spain. 
The  French  never  returned  to  Texas,  and  it  can  not  he  said 
that  they  were  ever  in  actual  possession  of  the  region  be¬ 
tween  the  Sabine  and  the  Rio  Grande.  Still,  no  boundary 
between  the  French  and  Spanish  possessions  in  the  South¬ 
west  was  ever  agreed  to,  previous  to  the  time  when  the 
French  gave  up  their  dominions  in  North  America.  On 
the  east,  however,  the  French  settlements  extended  to  the 
Mobile. 

In  1763  the  Mississippi  Valley  was  cleft  in  twain. 
France  drew  a  line  through  the  middle  of  the  river  from 
its  source  to  the  Iberville,  and  from  this  point  a  line  through 
the  middle  of  the  Iberville  and  Lakes  Maurepas  and  Pont- 
chartrain  to  the  sea.  AU  of  her  old  dominions  on  the  east 
side  of  this  line  she  ceded  to  England,  all  on  the  west  side 
to  Spain.  At  the  same  time  Spain  ceded  to  England  Flor¬ 
ida.  These  acts  limited  Louisiana,  save  below  the  junction 
of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Iberville,  to  the  western  side  of 


264 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


the  great  river.  As  Spain  now  owned  the  whole  Southwest, 
extending  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  she  had  no  motive  to  estab¬ 
lish  a  boundary  line  between  her  old  and  her  new  posses¬ 
sions.  Accordingly,  the  territory  ceded  by  Prance  to  Spain 
in  1763  was  the  second  Louisiana. 

It  is  clear  that  the  treaty  of  1803  involved  a  contradiction 
of  terms.  Fj^ench  Louisiana  had  extended  on  the  east  to  the 
Mobile,  but  Spanish  Louisiana  only  to  the  Iberville  and 
the  lakes.  That  part  of  French  Louisiana  which  passed  to 
England  in  1763  was  immediately  made  a  part  of  Florida. 
It  is  true  that  Spain  recovered  all  Florida  in  1783,  but  she 
denied  that  the  part  of  Louisiana  which  England  had  re¬ 
ceived  from  France,  and  which  she  had  regained  twenty 
years  later,  was  any  part  of  the  Louisiana  that  she  retro¬ 
ceded  to  France  in  1800.  The  United  States  claimed  the 
coast  to  the  Mobile,  but  Spain  would  yield  only  to  the  Iber¬ 
ville.  On  the  west  there  was  a  similar  dispute.  Previous 
to  1763  France  had  regarded  the  Pio  Grande  the  western 
limit  of  Louisiana,  but  Spain  had  claimed  Texas,  and  in 
part  occupied  it.  The  common  American  view  was  that 
our  rightful  boundary  on  the  west,  after  1803,  was  the  Rio 
Grande  from  mouth  to  source,  and  north  of  that  the  water- 
parting  to  the  possessions  of  Great  Britain.  Spain,  how¬ 
ever,  maintained  her  claim  to  Texas. 

The  acquisition  of  New  Orleans  left  all  the  other  Gulf 
ports  in  Spanish  hands  ;  and  this  fact  was  so  keenly  felt  by 
those  more  directly  interested,  that  some  suggested  whether 
it  would  not  be  wise  to  exchange  all  Louisiana  west  of  the 
Mississippi  for  the  two  Floridas.  Important  rivers  that 
headed  in  the  United  States  had  their  mouths  in  Spanish 
territory,  thus  presenting  the  Mississippi  question  over  again 
on  a  smaller  scale.  Indians  living  on  the  Spanish  side  of 
the  line,  and  also  outlaws  and  desperadoes,  committed  out¬ 
rages  on  the  American  side.  To  redress  such  wrongs  Gen¬ 
eral  Jackson  twice  crossed  the  frontier  at  the  head  of  an 
American  army,  once  in  1814  and  once  in  1818.  The  South¬ 
ern  people,  and  particularly  the  Georgians,. demanded,  first. 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  265 


that  the  Government  at  Washington  should  insist  upon  the 
Perdido  boundary,  and  afterward  that  it  should  take  steps  to 
acquire  east  Florida,  using  force  if  necessary.  And  so  the 
feeling  continued  to  grow,  and  not  unnaturally,  that  the 
possession  of  the  whole  Gulf  coast  east  of  the  Mississippi 
was  essential  to  the  peace  and  security  of  the  frontier  and 
to  the  geographical  completeness  of  the  United  States.  Still 
more,  the  Spanish  Government  was  indebted  to  American 
citizens  in  large  sums  on  account  of  Spanish  depredations 
committed  on  American  commerce.  These  causes,  including 
the  serious  disputes  about  boundaries,  virtually  forced  our 
second  extension  of  territory. 

Spain  retained  possession  of  the  coast  east  of  the  Iberville 
until  1810,  when  our  Government  took  possession  of  the 
major  part  of  the  district  that  was  in  dispute.  It  also  con¬ 
tinued  to  press  his  Catholic  Majesty  for  a  settlement  of  all 
pending  controversies,  until  in  1819  he  sold  Florida  for  five 
million  dollars,  the  money  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of 
American  claims,  and  also  agreed  to  the  following  boundary 
line  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  on  the  southwest : 
The  west  bank  of  the  Sabine  River  from  the  Gulf  to  parallel 
32°,  a  due  north  line  to  Red  River,  the  south  bank  of  the  Red 
River  to  longitude  100°  west  from  Greenwich,  this  meridian 
to  the  Arkansas,  the  south  bank  of  the  Arkansas  to  its  source, 
from  this  point  south  or  north,  as  the  case  might  be,  to  paral¬ 
lel  42°,  and  then  along  that  parallel  to  the  Pacific  Ocean : 
“  The  whole  being  as  laid  down  in  Mellish’s  Map  of  the  United 
States,  published  at  Philadelphia,  improved  to  Jan.  1,  1818.” 

The  truth  is,  that  what  the  United  States  really  wished 
to  buy  in  1803  was  the  island  of  New  Orleans  and  west 
Florida,  and  not  the  western  half  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
At  that  stage  of  their  development  the  Gulf  coast  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Perdido  was  much  more 
valuable  to  them  than  the  region  of  the  Missouri.  They  did 
not  get  all  that  they  wanted.  Furthermore,  owing  to  the 
haste  with  which  the  negotiations  were  conducted,  the  con¬ 
cealment  practiced  by  Bonaparte’s  Government,  the  vague- 
19 


266 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


ness  of  the  old  boundaries,  and  the  uncertainty  as  to  what 
actually  passed  from  Spain  to  France,  they  did  not  clearly 
know  what  they  were  buying.  For  the  time,  therefore, 
the  purchase  proved  something  of  a  disappointment. 

The  causes  that  brought  about  the  annexation  of  Louisi¬ 
ana  and  Florida  lie  upon  the  surface.  In  addition  to  the 
earth  hunger  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,*  we  note  the  constant 
pressure  southward  and  westward  of  a  large  and  rapidly 
growing  population,  made  aggressive  by  industrial  and  com¬ 
mercial  necessities,  and  by  natural  and  historical  environ¬ 
ment.  The  American  did  not  like  the  Spaniard.  As  na¬ 
tional  boundaries,  rivers  yield  to  mountains.  River  valleys 
generally  contain  populations  related  by  blood  and  history, 
while  mountains  often  mark  differences  of  race  and  civiliza¬ 
tion.  In  1800  there  were  585,000  Americans  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  while  Louisiana  did  not  contain 
more  than  60,000  Frenchmen  and  Spaniards.  In  vigor, 
and  in  capacity  for  subduing  and  replenishing  the  Great 
West,  the  disparity  between  these  two  populations  was 
greater  than  it  was  in  numbers.  Taking  these  facts  into 
account,  and  also  the  geographical  relations  of  the  two 
halves  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  each  other,  and  of  the 
Gulf  coast  to  the  original  United  States,  the  annexation  of 
Louisiana  and  Florida  could  not  long  remain  doubtful. 
The  treaty  of  1803  restored  the  political  unity  of  the  great 
valley,  and  made  the  next  annexation  inevitable. 


*  Mr.  Sumner,  referring  to  the  growth  of  our  national  dominion,  once 
said:  “  It  was  land,  not  gold,  that  roused  the  Anglo-Saxon  phlegm.  I 
doubt,  however,  if  this  passion  be  stronger  with  us  than  with  others,  ex¬ 
cept,  perhaps,  that  in  a  community  where  all  participate  in  government 
the  national  sentiments  are  more  active.  It  is  common  to  the  human  fam¬ 
ily.  There  are  few  anywhere  who  could  hear  of  a  considerable  accession 
of  territory,  obtained  peacefully  and  honestly,  without  a  pride  ot  country, 
even  if  at  certain  moments  the  judgment  hesitated.  With  increased  size 
on  the  map  there  is  increased  consciousness  of  strength,  and  the  heart  of 
the  citizen  throbs  anew  as  he  traces  the  extending  line.” 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  267 


IV,  Texas, 

Previous  to  1819  the  feeling  was  general,  at  least  at  the 
South  and  West,  that  the  Louisiana  purchase  extended  to 
the  Rio  Grande.  Still,  public  opinion  accepted  the  Sabine 
in  its  stead,  since  “  the  alienation  of  Texas,”  as  some  called 
it,  was  commonly  counted  a  part  of  the  price  of  Florida. 
But  this  acquiescence  did  not  prevent  the  taking  of  imme¬ 
diate  steps  to  secure  that  territory. 

In  1821  occurred  the  revolution  that  led  to  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,  of  which  Texas  and  Coa- 
huila  was  one  of  the  states.  About  the  same  time  adven¬ 
turous  persons  from  the  United  States,  mainly  from  the 
South,  acting  in  concert  with  a  political  propaganda,  began 
to  found  settlements  in  that  state  on  lands  obtained  from 
the  Mexican  Government.  Constantly  re-enforced  from  the 
South  and  West,  this  population  grew,  until  in  1836  the 
Texans  seceded  from  Mexico  and  established  the  ‘‘Lone 
Star”  republic.  From  the  first,  the  men  who  promoted 
these  movements  looked  to  the  ultimate  incorporation  of 
Texas  into  the  United  States  ;  and  after  various  attempts 
and  failures  that  end  was  finally  accomplished  in  1845,  thus 
correcting  the  “  alienation  ”  of  1819.  This  was  done  in  pur¬ 
suance  of  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress. 

In  this  third  annexation  the  old  causes  acted  with  un¬ 
diminished  power.  The  feeling  prevailed  that  Nature  and 
History  had  made  Texas  ours  ;  the  idea  of  reclamation  also 
exerted  an  influence.  But  a  new  cause  now  declared  itself. 
This  was  the  need  of  the  Slave  Power  for  new  territory  out 
of  which  to  make  new  slave  States,  as  related  in  a  future 
chapter.  One  of  the  conditions  of  the  annexation  of  Texas 
was  that  it  might  be  cut  up  into  several  States. 

V,  First  Mexican  Annexation, 

Texas  brought  with  her  into  the  Union  a  quarrel. 
Mexico  had  never  acknowledged  her  independence,  and, 
what  was  more  serious,  did  not  acknowledge  the  western 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


boundaries  that  Texas  claimed.  Texas  insisted  that  her 
right  extended  westward  to  the  Rio  Grande  ;  Mexico  that 
hers  extended  eastward  to  the  Nueces.  The  United  States 
sent  an  army  into  the  disputed  territory  to  maintain  the 
Texan  claim.  Mexico  sent  an  army  to  defend  her  claim. 
In  the  war  that  ensued  the  United  States  forces  not  only 
held  the  territory  lying  between  the  two  rivers,  but  also  con¬ 
quered  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California,  as  previously  re¬ 
lated.  From  the  beginning  of  hostilities  our  Government 
had  made  an  acquisition  of  territory  a  principal  object  of 
the  war,  as  “  indemnity  for  the  past  and  security  for  the  fu¬ 
ture  ”  ;  and  the  treaty  of  Guadalui)e  Hidalgo,  entered  into 
in  1818,  secured  to  us  the  territories  just  named  on  the 
payment  of  fifteen  million  dollars.  These  were  the  new 
boundaries  :  The  deepest  channel  of  the  Rio  Grande  from  its 
mouth  to  the  southern  boundary  of  New  Mexico,  the  south¬ 
ern  and  western  boundaries  of  that  territory  to  the  river 
Gila,  the  Gila  to  the  Colorado,  and  from  their  junction  a 
line  drawn  across  the  Colorado  and  between  Upper  and 
Lower  California  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

VI,  Second  Mexican  Annexation, 

Soon  there  arose  a  dispute  over  the  new  boundary  line 
in  the  Gila  River  region  :  both  parties  claimed  the  Mesilla 
Valley,  in  southern  Arizona.  For  a  time  war  seemed  immi¬ 
nent,  but  in  1853  a  treaty  was  negotiated  by  which  the 
United  States  obtained  a  new  accession  of  territory  on  pay¬ 
ment  of  ten  million  dollars.  This  is  sometimes  called  the 
“  Gadsden  Purchase,”  from  General  Gadsden,  who  negoti¬ 
ated  the  treaty  on  our  part. 

These  two  annexations  were  effected  by  the  action  of 
causes  already  enumerated,  but  the  ambition  of  the  Slave 
Power  was  the  master  motive.  Still,  not  a  foot  of  the  soil 
acquired  by  the  treaties  of  1848  and  1853  ever  became  slave 
soil. 

About  the  year  1730  Bishop  Berkeley  wrote  his  familiar 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  TEE  UNITED  STATES.  2()9 


verses  on  the  prospect  of  planting  arts  and  learning  in 
America,  of  which  this  is  the  best  known  stanza  : 

Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way ; 

The  first  four  acts  already  passed, 

A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day ; 

Time’s  noblest  offspring  is  the  last. 

These  lines  expressed  a  sentiment  that  was  more  or  less 
current  before  the  American  Revolution,  and  thus  naturally 
became  connected  with  the  history  of  the  United  States. 
At  the  opening  of  the  Revolution  the  American  patriots 
adopted  the  names  America  and  American,  continent  and 
continental.  In  part  this  language  was  due  to  the  habit  of 
large  speech  that  prevailed  at  the  time,  but  it  was  not  with¬ 
out  its  influence  on  the  course  of  events.  In  1787  John 
Adams  wrote  that  the  United  States  were  destined  to  spread 
over  the  northern  part  of  that  whole  quarter  of  the  globe. 
In  1823  President  Monroe  promulgated  the  Monroe  doc¬ 
trine,  which  was  merely  a  notification  to  the  Holy  Alliance 
of  Europe  that  the  United  States  would  regard  any  attempt 
of  the  powers  composing  it  to  control  the  destinies  of  the 
American  states  that  had  declared  themselves  independent 
of  Spain  as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  spirit  toward 
themselves,  but  it  was  often  assumed  to  be  a  promise  of  a  sort 
of  political  protection  or  guardianship  of  the  two  Americas 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  All  these  factors,  energized 
by  the  spontaneous  vigor  of  a  free  and  growing  people,  cul¬ 
minated,  about  the  time  of  the  Mexican  War,  in  what  was 
called  Manifest  Destiny,  or  the  belief  which  many  people 
entertained,  and  which  some  statesmen  fostered,  that  the 
republic  was  destined  to  occupy  the  continent. 

VII.  Oregon. 

On  no  other  part  of  the  map  of  America  do  we  find  such 
a  variety  of  geographical  names  as  on  the  Northwest  coast. 
Spanish,  English,  Greek,  Dutch,  Russian,  German,  and 
American  names,  to  say  nothing  of  native  ones,  jostle  one 


270 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


another.  This  diversity  is  typical  of  the  diversity  of  nation* 
alities  that  participated  in  exploration  and  discovery  on  that 
coast,  and  also  helps  to  explain  the  conflicting  titles  that 
we  are  now  to  describe. 

First,  Spain  claimed  the  coast  from  California  to  a  high 
latitude,  basing  her  right  on  numerous  voyages  of  discovery 
that  run  hack  to  the  year  1543.  At  no  time,  however,  did 
she  plant  colonies  north  of  parallel  42°.  Russia  asserted 
a  claim  that  extended  far  down  the  coast,  resting  it  on 
discoveries,  explorations,  and  trading  operations.  Sir  Fran¬ 
cis  Drake  visited  the  coast  in  1580,  Captain  Cook  in  1778, 
and  Vancouver  in  1793.  These  voyages  gave  England  a 
color  of  title,  hut  she  rested  her  claim  mainly  on  certain 
trading  posts  that  fur  traders,  who  came  overland  from  Can¬ 
ada  in  1793,  1806,  and  1811,  had  established.  Before  this 
time,  however,  the  country  north  of  California  had  been 
named.  The  name  Oregon  is  said  to  be  the  Spanish  Orejon^ 
big  ear  ” — “  The  designation  in  that  language  of  a  tribe  of 
Indians  living  high  up  on  the  [Columbia]  River,  and  chief¬ 
ly  known  to  us  by  the  French  name,  Pends  d’Oreilles,  from 
the  habit  which  they  formerly  had  of  enlarging  the  lobe  of 
the  ear  to  a  monstrous  size  by  the  insertion  of  metal  or  wood 
into  a  cut  made  for  that  purpose.”  The  Spaniards  called  the 
river  that  we  now  know  as  the  Columbia,  Rio  de  los  Ore- 
jones,  and  from  the  river  the  name  passed  to  the  country 
that  it  drained.  A  familiar  line  of  Bryant’s  Thanatopsis 
commemorates  the  first  use  of  Oregon.  In  1792  Captain 
Gray,  of  Boston,  first  entered  the  river,  if  he  did  not  indeed 
first  see  it,  and  gave  to  it  the  patriotic  name  of  his  ship.  The 
Columbia.  In  due  time  Columbia  superseded  Oregon  as 
the  name  of  the  river,  but  not  as  the  name  of  the  country. 

The  claim  of  the  United  States  to  territory  on  the  North¬ 
west  coast  originated  in  Captain  Gray’s  discovery.  In 
1803-1806  Captains  Lewis  and  Clarke,  United  States  officers, 
acting  under  the  direction  of  President  Jefferson,  crossed 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  explored  the  valley  of  the  Colum¬ 
bia  south  of  parallel  49°.  It  is  noteworthy  that  this  expe- 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  271 


dition  was  organized  before  the  purchase  of  Louisiana.  In 
1811  Mr.  Astor  established  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
the  trading  post  that  he  named  Astoria.  In  1819  Spain 
ceded  to  the  United  States  all  her  right  and  title  to  territory 
north  of  the  forty-second  parallel.  In  1824  Eussia  agreed 
not  to  make  settlements  south  of  54°  40',  and  the  United 
States  agreed  not  to  make  them  north  of  that  line,  and  the 
ensuing  year  Russia  and  England  entered  into  similar  en¬ 
gagements.  These  treaties  fixed  the  boundaries  of  Oregon 
on  the  north  and  on  the  south,  and  also  excluded  Spain  and 
Eussia  from  the  further  competition  for  its  ownership,  thus 
leaving  the  United  States  and  England  to  settle  that  ques¬ 
tion  between  themselves.  The  United  States  claimed  the 
whole  region  between  those  parallels  west  of  the  mountains, 
while  England  asserted  that  she  also  had  rights  there,  al¬ 
though  she  did  not  claim  an  exclusive  ownership.  The  two 
powers  not  being  able  to  agree,  and  the  question  not  being 
then  a  pressing  one,  the  treaty  of  1818,  which  made  the 
forty-ninth  parallel  the  boundary  from  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods  to  the  Stony  Mountains,  provided  that  for  ten  years 
Oregon  should  be  open  to  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  both 
alike,  without  prejudice  to  the  claims  of  either.  In  1828 
this  joint  occupancy  was  extended  indefinitely,  with  the 
proviso  that  either  nation  might  terminate  it  by  giving  a 
year’s  notice  to  the  other.  About  1832  American  citizens  be¬ 
gan  to  make  settlements  in  the  valley  of  the  Columbia,  and  by 
1845  they  had  become  three  thousand  in  number  and  were  con¬ 
stantly  increasing.  A  boundary  had  now  become  impera¬ 
tive  ;  and  in  1846  it  was  agreed  that  the  parallel  of  49°  from 
the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  channel  between  Vancouver’s 
Island  and  the  mainland,  and  a  line  drawn  through  the 
middle  of  this  channel  and  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  should  be  the 
line  of  demarcation,  with  free  navigation  of  the  channel 
and  of  the  Columbia  to  both  parties.  Later,  a  difference 
arose  as  to  the  identity  of  the  main  channel — a  question  that 
the  Emperor  of  Germany,  as  an  arbitrator,  decided  in  our 
favor  in  1872. 


272 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


The  title  of  the  United  States  to  the  territory  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  between  the  forty-second  and  forty-ninth 
parallels  of  latitude,  is  made  up  of  the  following  facts  :  1, 
Gray’s  discovery  of  the  Columbia  in  1792  ;  2,  Lewis  and 
Clarke’s  explorations,  1803-1806  ;  3,  the  founding  of  Astoria  in 
1811  ;  4,  the  Spanish  treaty  of  1819  ;  5,  the  Russian  treaty  of 
1824  ;  6,  the  settlements  made  in  the  period  1832-1846  ;  7, 
the  treaty  of  1846  ;  8,  the  treaty  of  1872,  under  which  the 
Emperor  William  rendered  his  decision.  It  should  be  added 
that  the  representatives  of  the  United  States,  in  pressing  our 
claims  upon  England,  laid  stress  upon  contiguity — that  is, 
the  fact  that  the  geographical  relations  of  Oregon  to  the 
abutting  territory  east  of  the  mountains  formed  a  quasi  title. 
It  should  be  further  observed  that  the  statement  sometimes 
made  to  the  efPect  that  Oregon  was  a  part  of  the  Louisiana 
purchase  is  without  foundation  ;  all  books  and  maps  mak¬ 
ing  such  a  representation  are  misleading.* 

Slavery  played  no  direct  part  in  the  Oregon  contest. 
Owing  to  the  influence  of  the  Slave  Power  in  national  af¬ 
fairs  in  those  years,  manifest  destiny  was  less  active  at  the 
North  than  at  the  South.  In  domestic  discussions  more  or 
less  was  said  about  the  Monroe  doctrine.  It  was  alleged 
that  to  yield  any  part  of  Oregon  to  England  would  be  con¬ 
senting  to  the  formation  of  a  new  American  colony  in  North 
America,  and  that  as  a  next-door  neighbor.  However,  this 
was  not  the  first  time  that  jealousy  of  England  had  played 
a  part  in  the  extension  of  American  territory.  It  was  seri- 


*  Mr.  Jeiferson  wrote  to  Mellish,  a  map-maker,  in  1816  :  “  The  western 
boundary  of  Louisiana  is,  rightfully,  the  Rio  Bravo  (its  main  stream),  from 
its  mouth  to  its  source,  and  thence  along  the  highlands  and  mountains 
dividing  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  from  the  waters  of  the  Pacific.  .  .  . 
On  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  we  can  found  no  claim  in  right  of  Louisiana,” 
—  Worlcs,^  vol.  p.  51.  M.  Marbois,  who  negotiated  the  treaty  of  1803 
on  the  part  of  France,  wrote  as  follows  in  his  History  of  Louisiana :  “  The 
shores  of  the  Western  ocean  were  certainly  not  included  in  the  cession,  but 
the  United  States  are  already  established  there.” — English  Traml^ationy 
p.  286.  Philadelphia,  1830. 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  273 

ously  feared,  in  1803,  that  in  the  event  of  war  between  Eng¬ 
land  and  France  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  would  fall 
into  her  hands.  It  was  also  charged,  prior  to  1845,  that  she 
was  intriguing  for  Texas  ;  and,  in  1846,  fear  that  she  would 
pounce  upon  Upper  California  hastened  its  occupation  by 
the  forces  of  the  United  States. 

VIII.  Alaska. 

Bering,  a  German  navigator  in  the  Russian  service,  dis¬ 
covered  the  strait  that  bears  his  name  in  1728,  and  the 
North  American  continent  in  latitude  58°  28'  in  1741.  The 
title  to  the  region  that  these  discoveries  gave  to  Russia  was 
duly  completed  by  further  discoveries  and  by  a  sort  of  occu¬ 
pancy  that  Senator  Sumner  thus  described  in  1867  :  ‘‘  Her 
Government  is  little  more  than  a  name  or  a  shadow.  It  is 
not  even  a  skeleton.  It  is  hardly  visible.  Its  only  repre¬ 
sentative  is  a  fur  company,  to  which  has  been  added  latterly 
an  ice  company.”  The  total  population  of  Russians  and 
creoles  at  that  time  was  estimated  at  3,500.  The  limitation 
on  the  south,  established  in  1824  and  1825,  has  been  already 
described. 

The  idea  of  the  accession  of  Russian  America  to  the 
United  States  was  broached,  it  is  said,  in  the  administration 
of  President  Polk.  It  was  more  seriously  considered  in  the 
administration  of  President  Buchanan.  A  considerable  in¬ 
terest  in  the  scheme  was  manifested  on  the  Pacific  slope  at 
the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  particularly  in  Washington  Ter¬ 
ritory,  and  on  March  30,  1867,  a  treaty  of  cession  was  con¬ 
cluded  at  Washington,  the  United  States  agreeing  to  pay 
seven  million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  Russia’s 
right  and  title.  On  the  east  the  line  of  demarcation  between 
Russia  and  Great  Britain,  established  in  1825,  was  followed, 
viz.  :  A  line  drawn  from  the  southern  point  of  island  Prince 
of  Wales,  in  paraUel  54°  40',  northward  along  Portland 
Channel  to  56°  north  latitude,  but  giving  the  whole  of  the 
island  to  the  United  States  ;  a  line  from  this  point  follow 
ing  the  summit  of  the  mountains,  running  parallel  to  the 


2T4 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


coast,  to  the  meridian  141°  west,  provided  that  said  line 
should  never  be  more  than  ten  marine  leagnes  from  the 
shore,  and  then  the  meridian  141°  to  the  frozen  ocean.* 
The  western  boundary  runs  southwest  through  Bering 
Strait  and  Bering  Sea  to  the  meridian  of  172°  west,  and 
thence  southwesterly  to  the  meridian  of  193°  west,  so  as  to 
include  in  the  territory  conveyed  the  whole  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands  east  of  that  meridian.  Mr.  Sumner  proposed  the 
name  Alaska,  the  native  name  for  the  American  continent, 
but  at  the  time  appropriated  to  the  great  southwestern 
peninsula. 

Those  who  advocated  this  purchase  laid  much  stress  upon 
the  China  and  Japan  trade,  and  especially  upon  its  advan¬ 
tages  to  our  Pacific  coast.  Conviction  had  for  some  time 
been  growing  that  the  Pacific  Ocean  was  to  play  a  new  part 
in  the  life  of  the  world.  President  Garfield,  for  example, 
was  fond  of  calling  it  '‘the  historic  sea  of  the  future.”  The 
opening  of  the  Suez  Canal,  the  building  of  the  Panama  Rail¬ 
road,  the  projected  canal  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Oceans,  the  building  of  the  several  contemplated  lines  of 
Pacific  railroads,  promised  to  give  to  the  great  commerce  of 
the  world  more  of  an  east-and-west  movement.  Much  was 
said  at  the  time  about  the  so-called  “  commercial  equator.” 
Men  who  shared  these  large  views  generally  thought  it 
highly  desirable  that  the  United  States,  from  their  geo¬ 
graphical  position,  should  control  as  much  of  the  western 
shore  of  North  America  as  possible.  It  is  significant  that 
the  purchase  of  Alaska  practically  coincided  with  the  opening 
of  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads  and  the  negotia¬ 
tion  of  the  treaty  establishing  closer  relations  with  China,  in 
1868.  Extension  of  dominion  was  also  dwelt  upon.  An¬ 
other  favorite  argument  was  the  extension  of  republican  in¬ 
stitutions.  Mr.  Sumner,  it  has  been  said,  was  unwilling  to 
miss  the  opportunity  of  dismissing  another  European  sover- 


*  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  United  States  and  Great  Britan  are 
now  engaged  in  surveying  their  joint  boundary. 


TERRITORIAL  GROWTH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  275 


eign  from  our  continent,  predestined,  as  he  believed,  to  be¬ 
come  the  broad,  undivided  home  of  the  American  people. 
Still  other  arguments  were  a  desire  to  anticipate  England, 
that  some  believed  was  ready  to  move  in  the  same  direction, 
and  a  feeling  of  amity  toward  Russia  because  she  had  been 
friendly  to  the  National  cause  in  the  Civil  War.  The  terri¬ 
tory  was  also  considered  valuable  on  account  of  its  resources 
of  lumber  and  timber,  minerals,  fisheries,  and  furs. 

Since  the  annexation  of  Alaska  keen  regrets  have  been 
expressed  that  the  United  States  did  not  in  1846  insist  upon 
the  line  of  54°  40'.  It  has  been  predicted  that  the  gap  be¬ 
tween  our  territories  on  that  coast  will  some  day  be  closed. 
At  the  time  of  his  visit  to  the  Pacific  coast,  in  1869,  Mr. 
Seward  said  :  “  Although  British  Columbia  remains  .  .  . 
subject  to  a  European  monarchy,  I  nevertheless  found  exist¬ 
ing  there  commercial  and  political  forces  which  render  a 
permanent  political  separation  of  British  Columbia  from 
Alaska  and  Washington  Territory  impossible.” 

In  the  preceding  sketch  nothing  has  been  said  about  the 
character  and  necessities  of  the  nations  with  which  we  have 
dealt.  Bonaparte  sold  Louisiana  without  regard  either  to 
the  resident  population,  which  was  strongly  adverse  to  the 
transfer,  or  to  the  French  people.  It  was  solely  his  act. 
Spain  was  very  jealous  of  her  American  possessions,  but  she 
was  degenerate,  and  wholly  unable  to  resist  the  constant  and 
growing  pressure  upon  those  possessions  from  the  north 
and  east.  Much  the  same  may  be  said  of  Mexico  :  she 
was  forced  to  submit  to  the  inevitable.  Russia  appears 
never  to  have  regarded  her  distant  American  possessions  as 
a  real  part  of  her  system  ;  besides,  rumors  of  war  were  afloat 
in  1867,  and  she  naturally  preferred  the  purchase  money  to 
the  precarious  ownership  of  a  distant  and  unprofitable  de¬ 
pendency.  In  every  case  the  condition  of  the  power  with 
which  we  have  had  to  deal  has  been  favorable  to  our  wishes. 
On  the  side  of  Canada,  where  we  have  constantly  faced  a 
great  and  ambitious  imperial  power,  we  have  never  extended 


276 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


our  boundaries  a  single  foot.  On  this  side,  however,  it  must 
be  said  that  the  necessities  of  our  material  development  have 
not  hitherto  required  territorial  enlargement  ;  the  logic  of 
events  has  moved  rather  southward  and  westward.  Still  it 
is  easy  to  see  that  had  we  been  bounded  on  the  west  and 
south,  in  1783,  by  Great  Britain  rather  than  by  Spain,  the 
results  would  have  been  somewhat  difPerent.  We  should 
have  reached  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Pacific,  no  doubt, 
but  at  the  expense  of  more  time  and  effort. 


The  Area  of  the  United  States,  with  Dates  of  Acquisition* 


Sq.  miles. 

Dates. 

1.  Original  United  States . 

2.  Louisiana  purchase . 

3.  Oregon . 

819,815 

877,268 

284,828 

64,030 

262,290 

614,439 

47,330 

531,409 

1783 

1803 

1792,  1805,  1811 

1819,  1846,  1872 
1819 

1845 

1848 

1853 

1867 

4.  The  Floridas . 

5.  Texas . 

6.  First  Mexican  annexation . 

7.  Second  Mexican  annexation . 

8.  Alaska . 

Total . 

3,501,509 

•  •  •  • 

Mr.  Gladstone  once  described  our  territory  as  “  a  natural 
base  for  the  greatest  continuous  empire  ever  established  by 
man.” 


*  The  authority  for  this  table  is  Prof.  A.  B.  Hart,  of  Harvard  Univer¬ 
sity.  See  Practical  Essays  on  American  Government,  Chap.  X.,  “  The 
Public  Land  Policy  of  the  United  States.”  The  areas  differ  more  or  less 
widely  from  those  given  in  the  Government  publications.  The  principal 
discrepance,  however,  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  Government  officers 
persist  in  including  Oregon  in  the  Louisiana  purchase.  See  the  Statistical 
Atlas,  1874,  and  The  Public  Domain,  1882.  Reclus  gives  statistics  still 
different.  The  United  States,  p.  5. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


PHASES  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  POLITICAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

References. — Washington:  Writings  of,  edited  by  Sparks  (Let¬ 
ters  to  Chastellux,  VIII.,  488,  Jefferson,  IX.,  31,  Harrison,  id.,  58,  and 
Lee,  id.,  117) ;  H.  B.  Adams :  Maryland’s  Influence  upon  Land  Ces¬ 
sions  to  the  United  States ;  Henry  Adams :  The  Life  of  Albert  Gal¬ 
latin  ;  Gannett  and  Hewes :  Scribner’s  Statistical  Atlas ;  Walker : 
Statistical  Atlas  of  the  United  States,  Ninth  Census;  Johnston: 
Political  History  of  the  United  States,  Lalor’s  Cyclopaedia  of  Politi¬ 
cal  Science  (Internal  Improvements,  The  Cumberland  Road,  Con¬ 
struction,  State  Sovereignty,  Federal  Party,  Democratic-Republican 
Party);  Jeans:  Water  Ways  and  Water  Transport  (Sec.  I.,  Chap. 
XIV.) ;  Sumner :  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Protection  in  the 
United  States ;  Taussig :  Tariff  History  of  the  United  States ; 
Ford:  Lalor’s  Cyclopaedia  (Tariffs  in  the  United  States);  Hil¬ 
dreth  :  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  V.,  Chap.  XV. 

But  few  years  of  American  history,  counting  even  from 
Jamestown  and  Plymouth,  have  been  years  of  war.  While 
some  of  the  wars  in  which  the  country  has  been  engaged 
hold  an  important  place  in  history,  its  genius  is  still  essen¬ 
tially  civil  and  pacific.  The  United  States  are  an  industrial, 
commercial,  and  political  nation  rather  than  a  martial  one. 
The  lessons  that  they  teach  the  world  are  mainly  lessons  of 
peace.  No  historical  studies  of  the  kind  can  be  more  profit¬ 
able  or  interesting  to  the  American  student  than  those  that 
deal  with  this  characteristic  side  of  the  national  develop¬ 
ment.  It  is  therefore  to  be  regretted  that  disproportionate 
attention  is  so  often  given  to  the  military  side  of  our  his¬ 
tory.  In  the  present  work,  however,  nothing  more  can  be 


278  • 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


attempted  than  to  sketch  some  of  the  leading  features  of 
this  field  of  study.  We  may  first  look  at  the  establishment 
of  means  of  communication  between  the  several  divisions 
of  the  country. 

In  the  colonial  period  the  sea  and  its  tributaries  were 
large  factors  in  travel  and  transportation.  The  great 
length  of  the  sea  front,  the  shallow  depth  of  the  Atlantic 
slope,  and  the  number  and  distribution  of  navigable  rivers, 
together  with  the  undeveloped  state  of  the  country,  furnish 
the  ready  explanation.  Vermont,  admitted  to  the  Union  in 
1791,  was  the  first  inland  State.  Roads  were  poor,  and  the 
most  important  ones  connected  the  rivers  and  other  bodies 
of  navigable  water.  A  man  could  journey  on  horseback 
from  Providence  to  Savannah — one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  forty -three  miles — in  seventy  days,  spending  every 
night  in  some  town  furnishing  comfortable  accommo¬ 
dations.  Previous  to  the  French  and  Indian  War  the 
only  persons  who  passed  and  repassed  the  mountains  that 
shut  in  the  Atlantic  Plain  on  the  west  were  hunters  and 
Indian  traders,  who  followed  paths  that  the  deer  and  the 
buffalo  had  made  through  the  passes.  Naturally  enough, 
these  adventurers  were  found  at  the  southward  ;  for,  al¬ 
though  the  Pennsylvanians  and  the  Virginians  were  con¬ 
fronted  by  the  continuous  parallel  ridges  of  the  Alleghanies, 
they  were  much  nearer  the  Great  West  than  the  New  Eng¬ 
landers  or  the  people  of  New  York,  while  they  were  not 
exposed  to  the  jealousy  of  the  Six  Nations  or  the  competi¬ 
tion  of  the  French.  English-speaking  men  chased  game  in 
the  valley  of  the  Tennessee  much  sooner  than  on  the  shore 
of  the  Great  Lakes.  The  Ohio  Valley  was  far  better  known 
to  them  in  1755  than  the  Lake  Erie  Basin. 

.  No  country  in  the  world  offers  to  man  better  facilities 
for  inland  navigation  than  the  United  States,  or  at  least  that 
portion  of  it  lying  between  the  Appalachian  and  Cordilleran 
mountain  systems.  In  addition  to  the  abundance  of  navi¬ 
gable  waters.  Nature  opposes  no  serious  obstacles  to  connect¬ 
ing  the  several  river  systems  or  parts  of  systems  ;  while  the 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


279 


problems  offered  to  the  engineer  and  capitalist  by  the  moun¬ 
tains  themselves,  although  serious,  are  not  insuperable.  The 
eastern  mountain  system  offered  the  first  great  problem  of 
the  kind  that  the  country  solved. 

The  first  road  through  the  forests  that  clothed  the  Alle- 
ghanies  was  cut  by  Braddock’s  troops,  from  Cumberland  to 
the  Monongahela,  in  1755  ;  the  second  one  by  Forbes’s  troops, 
from  the  upper  Susquehanna  to  the  forks  of  the  Ohio,  in  1758. 
At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the  only  real  thorough¬ 
fare  to  the  West  was  the  road  leading  from  Philadelphia  to 
Pittsburg,  the  western  part  of  which  was  the  Forbes  road. 
Before  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  the  major  part  of  the 
freight  conveyed  between  tide  water  and  the  West  was 
hauled  over  this  road  in  Conestoga  wagons,  at  a  cost  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  dollars  a  ton.  Pittsburg  was  the  most 
important  Western  town,  and  the  first  inland  manufactur¬ 
ing  center  in  the  whole  country.  In  1796  no  road  had  been 
opened  between  the  Mohawk  and  Lake  Erie  ;  Canandaigua 
was  the  western  outpost  on  what  soon  became  a  great  line 
of  travel.  The  surveyors  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Company, 
on  their  way  to  the  W estern  Reserve  in  the  spring  of  that  year, 
having  rendezvoused  at  Schenectady,  ascended  the  Mohawk 
to  Fort  Stanwix,  now  Rome,  whence  they  passed  with  their 
boats  and  stores  over  the  portage  to  Wood  Creek,  and  then 
proceeded  by  that  stream,  Oneida  Lake,  and  Oswego  River  to 
Lake  Ontario,  from  which  point  they  made  their  way  by 
water  to  Niagara,  and  then  by  the  Indian  trail  to  the  present 
site  of  Buffalo.  A  large  part  of  the  New  England  emigration 
to  northern  Ohio  crossed  the  Hudson  at  Fishkill  and  the 
Delaware  at  Easton,  and  reached  their  destination  bv  the 
Penns vlvania  route.  Farther  to  the  south  Nature  had  an- 
ticipated  man.  The  Wilderness  Road  led  through  the  Val¬ 
ley  of  Virginia  and  Cumberland  Gap,  uniting  the  Potomac 
and  the  Tennessee,  and  even  at  the  beginning  of  this  cen¬ 
tury  it  furnished  the  most  desirable  route  for  the  traveler 
from  Philadelphia  or  Baltimore  to  Cincinnati  or  Louisville. 

The  early  population  of  the  West  was  distributed  by  the 


280 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


rivers  far  more  than  by  all  other  agencies.  The  hunter  and 
the  trader  used  the  horse  and  the  pack  train  as  well  as  the 
canoe  and  the  bateau,  but  the  emigrant,  as  a  rule,  followed  the 
water  courses.  Arrived  at  the  Ohio  or  the  Tennessee,  the 
Great  West  was  spread  out  before  him.  All  the  early  towns 
were  built  on  rivers.  The  river  craft  that  appear  so  pictur¬ 
esque  in  the  letters  and  diaries  of  tourists  and  emigrants 
of  a  literary  turn,  such  as  the  “  ark  ”  and  the  “  keel  boat,” 
were  the  sole  means  of  transportation  for  both  goods  and 
persons  until  the  advent  of  steam  navigation.  The  first 
steamboat  to  descend  the  Mississippi  reached  New  Orleans 
in  1811  ;  the  first  to  ascend  Lake  Erie  reached  Detroit  in 
1818.  But  the  steamboat  only  increased  the  emigrants’  im¬ 
mediate  dependence  upon  the  rivers.  The  second  transpor¬ 
tation  question  in  the  West  was  the  crossing  of  the  water 
partings  dividing  different  systems  of  waters,  or  different 
branches  of  the  same  system  ;  and  this  was  accomplished 
for  the  time,  first  by  utilizing  and  then  by  improving  the 
trails  across  the  portages  over  which  the  Indian,  and  often 
the  Frenchman,  had  shouldered  his  canoe.  In  that  period 
of  history  small  streams  often  had  an  importance  that  it  is 
now  hard  to  understand,  while  small  posts  buried  in  forests 
were  sometimes  ports  of  entry.  Upon  the  whole,  it  would 
be  hard  to  exaggerate  the  part  that  navigable  waters,  and 
particularly  the  steamboat,  played  in  the  development  of 
the  West. 

Lines  of  communication  that  should  connect  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  and  the  interior  of  the  continent  occupied  the  at¬ 
tention  of  far-seeing  men  many  years  before  the  States  de¬ 
clared  their  independence.  The  question  engaged  the  mind 
of  Washington  while  he  was  still  a  youth.  In  1754  he 
wrote  a  report  on  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac,  and  in 
1770  he  urged  that  subject  upon  the  Governor  of  Maryland. 
He  saw  in  the  Potomac  and  the  portage  to  the  Ohio  “  a  means 
of  becoming  the  channel  of  conveyance  of  the  extensive  and 
valuable  trade  of  a  rising  empire.”  He  interested  himself 
in  the  Potomac  and  James  River  Improvement  Companies, 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


2S1 


and  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1784,  that  the  plan  ^vhich 
embraced  those  works  was  in  a  relatively  good  train  when 
he  went  to  Cambridge  to  assume  command  of  the  army,  and 
would  have  been  in  an  exceUent  way  had  it  not  been  for 
the  opposition  of  the  Baltimore  merchants,  who  dreaded  the 
consequences  of  water  transportation  to  Georgetown.  The 
war  put  an  end  to  all  plans  for  the  time. 

The  leadership  of  Virginia  in  the  work  of  internal  im¬ 
provement  on  a  large  scale  is  easily  explained.  It  was  due 
to  the  close  geographical  and  commercial  connections  of 
that  State  with  the  West,  to  the  development  of  her  indus¬ 
trial  system,  and  the  prescience  of  her  statesmen.  Still,  citi¬ 
zens  of  New  York  were  already  stirred  by  similar  thoughts. 
In  the  spring  of  1776  General  Schuyler  explained  to  Dr. 
Franklin,  who  was  one  of  the  commission  of  three  that 
Congress  had  dispatched  to  Canada,  and  that  Schuyler  as¬ 
sisted  to  cross  the  portage  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Cham¬ 
plain,  that  an  uninterrupted  water-carriage  between  New 
York  and  Quebec  might  be  perfected  at  fifty  thousand 
pounds  sterling  expense. 

The  war  was  hardly  over  before  Washington  took  up  the 
subject  again.  In  July,  1783,  while  the  army  was  disband¬ 
ing,  in  company  with  Governor  Clinton,  he  examined  the 
portages  between  the  Mohawk  and  the  Susquehanna  on  the 
one  side  and  Lake  Ontario  on  the  other.  “Prompted  by 
these  actual  observations,”  he  wrote,  “  I  could  not  help  tak¬ 
ing  a  more  extensive  view  of  the  vast  inland  navigation  of 
these  United  States  from  maps  and  the  information  of  oth¬ 
ers.”  He  desired  to  extend  his  visit  to  the  Niagara,  but  de¬ 
sisted  because  the  British  still  held  that  frontier.  He  de¬ 
clared  that  he  should  not  rest  contented  until  he  “  had  ex¬ 
plored  the  Western  country,  and  traversed  those  lines,  or  a 
great  part  of  them,  which  have  given  bounds  to  a  new  em¬ 
pire.”  This  pledge  he  redeemed  in  September,  1784,  when 
he  made  his  last  visit  to  the  West,  his  object  being  not  so 
much  to  look  after  his  own  property  interests  in  those  re¬ 
gions  as  to  study  on  the  ground  the  portages  uniting  the 
20 


282 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Potomac  and  the  James  with  the  Ohio  and  Kanawha.*  On 
his  return  he  sketched  out  lines  of  communication  between 
those  rivers,  and  also  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Cuyahoga, 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga  and  Detroit.  His  letters 
written  at  this  period  are  a  magazine  of  information  relat¬ 
ing  to  this  interesting  subject. 

To  the  mind  of  Washington  industrial  and  commercial 
reasons  had  ceased  to  be  the  strongest  ones  for  carrying  out 
his  plans.  He  emphasized  the  swelling  volume  of  emigra¬ 
tion,  and  particularly  the  weakness  of  the  ties  which,  in 
that  time  of  disorganizing  tendencies,  bound  the  Western 
population,  under  the  conditions  of  Western  life,  to  the 
Union.  In  his  famous  letter  to  Governor  Harrison,  written 
soon  after  his  return  from  the  Ohio,  he  argued  that  the 
flanks  and  rear  of  the  United  States  were  possessed  by  other 
powers,  and  formidable  ones  too ;  that  it  was  necessary  to  ap¬ 
ply  the  cement  of  interest  to  bind  all  parts  of  the  Union  to¬ 
gether  by  indissoluble  bonds,  especially  the  Ohio  Valley  and 
the  Middle  States.  He  pointed  out  how  discontented  those 
people  would  be,  and  what  troubles  might  be  apprehended 
if  Spain  and  Great  Britain  should  hold  out  lures  for  their 
trade  and  alliance.  The  Western  States  stood  upon  a  pivot; 
the  touch  of  a  feather  would  turn  them  any  way.  They 
had  looked  down  the  Mississippi  until  the  Spaniards  threw 


*  “  Wherever  he  came,  he  sought  and  closely  questioned  the  men  famed 
for  personal  observation  of  the  streams  and  paths  on  each  side  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies.  \  From  Fort  Cumberland  he  took  the  usual  road  over  the  moun¬ 
tains  to  the  valley  of  the  Yohogany,  and  studied  closely  the  branches  of 
that  stream.  ’  The  country  between  the  Little  Kanawha  and  the  James 
River  being  at  that  moment  infested  with  hostile  Indians,  he  returned 
through  the  houseless  solitude  between  affluents  of  the  Cheat  River  and 
of  the  Potomac.  As  he  traced  the  way  for  commerce  over  that  wild  re¬ 
gion,  he  was  compelled  to  pass  a  night  on  a  rough  mountain  side  in  a  pour¬ 
ing  rain,  with  no  companion  but  a  servant  and  no  protection  but  his  cloak  ; 
one  day  he  was  without  food ;  sometimes  he  could  lind  no  path  except  the 
track  of  buffaloes ;  and  in  unceasing  showers  his  ride  through  the  close 
bushes  seemed  to  him  little  better  than  the  swimming  of  rivulets.” — Ban¬ 
croft^  History  of  the  United  States  {author"' s  last  revision),  vol.  vi,  pp.  125, 12C, 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


283 


difficulties  in  their  way  ;  and  they  looked  that  way  for  no 
other  reason  than  because  they  could  glide  gently  down  the 
stream,  and  because  they  had  no  means  of  carrying  on  trade 
with  the  East  hut  by  long  land  transportation  and  unim¬ 
proved  roads.  These  causes  had  hitherto  checked  the  in¬ 
dustry  of  the  settlers ;  but  “  smoothe  the  road,”  he  said,  ‘‘  and 
make  easy  the  way  for  them,  and  then  see  what  an  inhux 
of  articles  will  be  poured  upon  us  ;  how  amazingly  our  ex¬ 
ports  will  be  increased  by  them,  and  how  amply  we  shall  be 
compensated  for  any  trouble  and  expense  we  may  encounter 
to  effect  it !  ” 

Washington  was  more  than  willing  to  defer  for  the  time 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  which  was  then  denied  by 
Spain,  assigning  as  his  reasons  that,  until  a  little  time  had 
been  allowed  to  open  and  make  easy  the  ways  between  the 
Atlantic  States  and  the  Western  territory,  the  obstructions 
to  this  navigation  had  better  remain.  Without  the  cement 
of  interest  the  Western  inhabitants  could  have  no  predilec¬ 
tion  for  the  Union,  and  a  commercial  connection  was  the 
only  tie  that  would  bind  them.  It  was  clear  to  him  that 
the  trade  of  the  lakes  and  of  the  river  Ohio  as  low  as  the 
Kanawha,  if  not  the  Falls,  might  be  brought  to  the  Atlantic 
ports  easier  and  cheaper  than  it  could  be  carried  to  New 
Orleans  ;  but  let  trade  with  that  city  be  well  established, 
and  it  would  be  found  to  be  no  easy  matter  to  divert  it ;  and 
vice  versa.  When  the  settlements  were  stronger  and  more 
extended  to  the  westward,  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
would  be  an  object  of  importance,  and  we  should  then  be 
able,  reserving  our  claims,  to  speak  a  more  efficacious  lan¬ 
guage  than  policy  for  the  time  dictated. 

Interest  in  internal  improvements  grew  with  the  popu¬ 
lation  and  wealth  of  the  country.  In  1792  the  Legislature 
of  New  York  chartered  two  companies,  one  to  build  a  canal 
with  locks  from  the  Mohawk  to  Lake  Ontario,  the  other  to 
bind  together  in  a  similar  way  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Cham¬ 
plain.  In  1808  Mr.  Gallatin,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  laid 
before  the  Senate,  in  response  to  a  resolution  that  it  had 


284 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


adopted,  an  elaborate  scheme  of  internal  improvements  to 
be  undertaken  by  Congress,  the  grand  features  of  which  Mr. 
Adams  has  classified  as  follows  : 

I.  Those  parallel  with  the  seacoast,  viz.,  canals  cutting  Cape  Cod, 
New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  North  Carolina,  so  as  to  make  continu¬ 
ous  inland  navigation  along  the  coast  to  Cape  Fear,  at  an  estimated 
cost  of  $3,000,000 ;  and  a  great  turnpike  road  from  Maine  to  Geor¬ 
gia,  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $4,800,000. 

II.  Those  that  were  to  run  east  and  west,  viz.,  improvement  of 
the  navigation  of  four  Atlantic  rivers,  the  Susquehanna,  the  Poto¬ 
mac,  the  James,  and  the  Santee,  and  of  four  corresponding  Western 
rivers,  the  Alleghany,  the  Monongahela,  the  Kanawha,  and  the  Ten¬ 
nessee,  to  the  highest  practicable  points,  at  an  estimated  cost  of 
$1,500,000 ;  and  the  connection  of  these  highest  points  of  naviga¬ 
tion  by  four  roads  across  the  Appalachian  range,  at  an  estimated 
cost  of  $2,800,000 ;  and,  finally,  a  canal  at  the  falls  of  the  Ohio, 
$300,000,  and  improvement  of  roads  to  Detroit,  St.  Louis,  and  New 
Orleans,  $200,000. 

III.  Those  that  were  to  run  north  and  northwest  to  the  lakes, 
viz.,  to  connect  the  Hudson  River  with  Lake  Champlain,  $800,000 ; 
to  connect  the  Hudson  River  with  Lake  Ontario  at  Oswego  by  canal, 
$2,200,000;  a  canal  round  Niagara  Falls,  $1,000,000. 

IV.  Local  improvements,  $3,400,000. 

The  entire  estimated  expense  was  $20,000,000.  By  an  appropria¬ 
tion  of  $2,000,000  a  year  the  whole  might  be  accomplished  in  ten 
years.  By  a  system  of  selling  to  private  parties  the  stock  thus  cre¬ 
ated  by  the  Government  for  turnpikes  and  canals,  the  fund  might  be 
made  itself  a  permanent  resource  for  further  improvements. 

This  scheme  is  interesting  for  numerous  reasons.  It 
shows  careful  study  of  the  physiography  of  the  country, 
and  a  firm  grasp  of  its  industrial  and  commercial  needs  and 
relations,  and  evinces  a  remarkable  anticipation  of  enter¬ 
prises  that  have  in  some  form  been  accomplished.  It  is  not 
a  little  remarkable,  moreover,  that  neither  Gallatin  nor  his 
predecessors  projected  a  line  of  communication  from  the 
Hudson  direct  to  Lake  Erie — the  more  remarkable  as  it  was 
by  this  very  route  that  the  first  line  to  the  West  was  actually 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


285 


constructed.  The  obvious  cause  of  the  omission  was  the 
strong  hold  that  natural  water  courses,  as  means  of  convey¬ 
ance,  then  had  upon  men’s  minds  ;  it  was  assumed  that  the 
northern  line  to  the  West  would  run  from  the  Mohawk  to 
Lake  Ontario,  and  then  to  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River, 
around  the  falls  of  which  Gallatin’s  scheme  did  provide  a 
canal. 

The  great  difficulty  and  cost  of  transporting  troops  and 
military  stores  to  the  West  in  the  War  of  1812  taught  the 
country  that  war,  as  well  as  peace,  required  that  the  sea¬ 
board  and  the  interior  should  be  more  closely  connected. 
The  danger  of  a  Western  secession  had  passed  away  since 
Washington’s  day  ;  the  annexation  of  Louisiana  had  more 
than  doubled  the  national  area,  but  Great  Britain  and  Spain 
were  still  on  our  flanks  and  rear,  and  there  was  no  telling 
how  soon  we  might  become  involved  in  war  with  either 
power.  Several  great  lines  of  communication  were  soon 
taken  in  hand.  New  York  leading  the  way. 

In  1823  the  Lake  Champlain  Canal,  uniting  the  Hud¬ 
son  and  Lake  Champlain,  was  completed  ;  in  1825,  the  Erie 
Canal,  uniting  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Erie.  The  comple¬ 
tion  of  the  second  of  these  works  contributed  amazingly 
to  the  development  of  the  West  on  the  one  hand,  while  it 
made  the  State  of  New  York  the  Empire  State,  and  the  city 
of  New  York  the  metropolis  of  the  country  on  the  other. 
Next  came  a  line  of  canal  and  railroad  connecting  Philadel¬ 
phia  and  Pittsburg.  The  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  be¬ 
gun  in  1828,  reached  Cumberland  in  1850  and  there  stopped  ; 
nor  was  the  canal  from  the  James  to  the  Kanawha  ever 
finished. 

In  the  West,  as  in  the  East,  the  canal  problem  was  to 
unite  different  river  systems  ;  no  one  thought  of  competing 

ectl^^  wxtli  navigable  rivers  or  lakes.  In  Ohio  and  In¬ 
diana  the  great  canal  lines  connected  Lake  Erie  and  the 
Ohio  River  ;  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  Lake  Michigan  and 
the  Mississippi.  A  canal  was  projected  across  the  lower 
Michigan  peninsula,  but  never  built.  By  the  time  that  the 


286 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


States  beyond  the  Mississippi  were  ready  for  public  improve¬ 
ments  the  canal-boat  period  had  ceased  and  the  locomotive 
period  had  begun. 

In  its  largest  features  the  early  railroad  system  resem¬ 
bled  the  canal  system.  The  great  trunk  lines,  as  the  New 
York  Central,  the  Erie,  and  Pennsylvania  roads,  led  to  the 
West.  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  road,  which  reached  the 
Ohio  in  1850,  fulfilled  the  ideas  of  Washington  ;  one  of  its 
branches  extending  from  Cumberland  to  Pittsburg,  the 
other  to  Parkersburg  and  Wheeling.  In  the  Old  Northwest 
also  Nature  surveyed  the  railway  lines.  In  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  and  Wisconsin,  the  first  roads  bound  together  the 
lakes  on  the  one  side  and  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  on 
the  other.  The  Michigan  roads  connecting  the  waters  east 
and  west  are  much  older  than  the  roads  running  north  and 
south.  South  of  the  Ohio  the  first  necessity  was  to  unite 
that  river  with  the  Tennessee,  the  Cumberland,  and  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri,  it  was 
to  unite  those  rivers.  Beyond  the  Missouri  and  in  the 
Southwest  the  great  railroads  have  sought  the  Pacific 
Ocean. 

At  first  it  was  confidently  assumed  that  the  railroad  train 
could  not  compete  with  the  steamboat  for  either  freight  or 
passengers,  or  with  the  canal  boat  for  heavy  freight — an 
assumption  which  explains  why,  for  example,  Cleveland 
was  connected  by  roads  with  both  Pittsburg  and  Cincinnati 
earlier  than  with  either  Buffalo  or  Toledo.  But  as  the 
value  of  rapid  transit  became  more  and  more  apparent,  and 
the  cost  of  railroad  communication  was  gradually  reduced, 
these  ideas  were  thrown  aside  ;  and  to-day  it  would  not  be 
easy  to  find  an  important  river  or  lake  shore  that  has  not 
been  paralleled  by  one  or  more  lines  of  road. 

No  inventions  proclaim  a  greater  triumph  of  man  over 
Nature  than  those  which  enable  him  to  utilize  the  power  of 
steam.  The  steamship  defies  wind  and  wave. 

The  pulses  of  her  iron  heart 

Go  beating  through  the  storm. 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


287. 

The  locomotive  engine  emancipates  man  from  dependence 
upon  water  courses,  natural  and  artificial.  At  first  the  loco¬ 
motive  like  the  canal  boat  followed  the  van  of  civilization 
at  a  distance  ;  but  in  the  later  period,  striking  through  un¬ 
peopled  regions,  it  has  led  the  march.  In  the  more  re¬ 
cent  westward  movements  of  population  the  engineer  and 
the  contractor  have  literally  been  pioneers  for  the  emigrant. 
As  a  result,  natural  means  of  transportation  are  no  longer 
necessary  for  the  existence  or  prosperity  of  cities.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  a  few  years  ago  the  export  of  cotton  from  the  port  of 
New  Orleans  had  fallen  from  70  to  22  per  cent  of  the  total 
export  of  the  country,  while  the  import  of  coffee  had  fallen 
from  80  to  7  per  cent.  The  locomotive  had  built  up  rivals 
for  the  Metropolis  of  the  Southwest.  A  distinguished  econ¬ 
omist  has  announced  that  a  Massachusetts  mechanic  can 
pay  for  the  transportation  of  a  year’s  supply  of  food  one 
thousand  miles  with  the  proceeds  of  one  day’s  labor.  The 
introduction  of  electricity,  especially  if  it  should  become 
practicable  to  transport  power  long  distances,  may  redress 
the  balance  of  water  and  steam  in  respect  to  stationary  ma¬ 
chinery  ;  but  for  purposes  of  land  transportation  the  victory 
of  steam  is  apparently  irreversible. 

In  course  of  time  internal  improvements  became  a  great 
political  question.  Beginning  with  the  act  authorizing  the 
construction  of  the  Cumberland  Road,  passed  in  1806,  Con¬ 
gress  voted  large  sums  of  money  for  turnpikes,  canals,  river 
improvements,  and  railroads.  For  some  years  no  constitu¬ 
tional  objection  was  heard  ;  President  Madison  was  the  first 
to  raise  that  issue,  in  1817.  At  a  later  day  the  subject  en¬ 
tered  deeply  into  party  politics,  the  Whigs  taking  the 
affirmative  and  the  Democrats  the  negative  side  of  the  ques¬ 
tion.  Since  that  division,  however.  Senators  and  Represent¬ 
atives  have  often  deferred  to  State  or  local  interests  in  de¬ 
fiance  of  party  creeds. 

While  party  policy,  the  personal  ends  of  politicans,  and 
sheer  accident  have  played  their  part  in  the  tariff  history  of 
the  country,  that  interesting  subject  can  be  understood  only 


‘283 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  IIISTODY. 


'when  studied  in  connection  with  certain  general  causes  and 
conditions  that  revealed  themselves  at  an  early  day  and  con¬ 
tinue  to  exist  to  the  present  time.  The  moderate  protection 
given  to  certain  industries  in  1789  provoked  little  opposition 
from  any  quarter  ;  nor  was  there  any  organized  resistance  to 
the  various  extensions  of  the  principle  that  were  made  down 
to  1816.  Partly  in  consequence  of  the  stimulus  that  protec¬ 
tion  had  afforded,  partly  in  consequence  of  the  restrictions  on 
commerce  that  finally  culminated  in  the  War  of  1812,  there 
was  in  those  years  a  considerable  growth  of  manufactures. 
Capital  that  had  been  invested  in  shipping  and  trade  was 
now  employed  in  production.  As  the  return  of  peace  and 
the  re-estahlishment  of  commercial  relations  with  Europe 
threatened  disaster  to  the  new  industries,  an  act  was  passed 
increasing  both  the  number  and  the  amount  of  protective 
duties.  About  this  time  public  opinion  began  to  crystallize, 
and  four  great  interests  progressively  declared  themselves 
in  the  field  of  tariff  legislation. 

1.  The  manufacturing  interest  favored  protection  to 
home  industries  as  a  matter  of  course,  meaning  by  that 
phrase  not  merely  the  capitalists  who  owned  the  manu¬ 
factories,  but  also  the  laborers  employed  in  them,  and  other 
classes,  such  as  tradesmen,  who  were  directly  dependent  upon 
them.  Still  further,  as  manufacturing  depended  upon  certain 
conditions,  as  power  agents,  capital,  raw  material,  labor,  and 
superintendence,  the  protective  doctrine  tended  strongly 
to  root  itself  in  particular  States  and  districts  of  country 
where  these  conditions  were  found. 

2.  The  shipping  and  importing  interests,  with  the  classes 
dependent  directly  upon  them,  tended  toward  a  revenue 
tariff,  or  what  is  commonly  called  free  trade.  A  large  de¬ 
velopment  of  home  production  would  tend  to  lessen  the 
demand  for  foreign  products,  and  so  reduce  commerce. 
Again,  shipping  and  commercial  interests  depended  also  upon 
certain  natural  and  economical  causes,  as  navigable  waters, 
ports,  ship  timber  and  shipyards,  shipbuilders  and  sailors. 
As  New  England  was  much  more  interested  in  commerce  and 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


289 


shipping  than  in  manufactures,  her  Senators  and  Represent¬ 
atives,  led  by  Mr.  Webster,  voted  against  the  act  of  1816  by  a 
strong  majority.  But  at  a  later  day  New  England  ranged 
herself  decisively  on  the  protective  side.  Mr.  Webster,  who 
went  with  his  section,  defended  the  change  when  the  tariff 
of  1828  was  under  discussion  by  alleging  that  the  tariffs  of 
1816  and  1824  had  led  New  Englanders  to  invest  great 
amounts  of  capital  in  manufactures,  which  could  be  protect¬ 
ed  against  loss  or  destruction  only  by  continuing  and 
strengthening  the  protective  policy. 

Nothing  could  be  more  natural  than  this  divergence  of 
the  manufacturing  and  commercial  classes.  On  the  subject 
of  protection,  a  great  manufacturing  city  like  Philadelphia 
and  a  great  commercial  city  like  New  York,  would  be  quite 
certain  to  go  different  roads. 

3.  The  planting  interest  strongly  supported  the  act  of  1816. 
Southern  statesmen,  as  Mr.  Calhoun,  argued  that  it  was 
necessary  to  promote  domestic  manufactures  in  order  that 
the  country  might  be  prepared  for  war  ;  they  also  hoped 
that  protection  would  stimulate  manufactures,  and  particu¬ 
larly  cotton  manufactures  at  the  South.  In  a  few  years, 
however,  a  change  came  over  the  Southern  mind ;  the 
planters  had  learned  that  manufactories  could  not  thrive 
in  the  midst  of  slavery  ;  they  realized  keenly  that  they 
must  buy  the  bulk  of  the  goods  that  they  needed  either  of 
Europe  or  at  the  North  ;  and  as  they  believed  that  pro¬ 
tection  enhanced  prices  they  declared  in  favor  of  free  trade. 
Still  more,  they  feared  that  European  nations  would,  in  the 
spirit  of  retaliation  for  the  high  American  duties,  levy  taxes 
upon  the  American  cotton  that  they  imported,  thus  reducing 
its  price  at  home.  How  great  the  change  of  opinion  was,  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  1832  South  Carolina  nullified  laws 
similar  to  one  that  only  sixteen  years  before  she  had  warmly 
supported.  But  into  nullification  there  also  entered  deeply 
sectional  and  personal  views  and  feelings  that  are  beyond 
the  present  purpose. 

4.  The  agricultural  districts  have  not  pursued  an  alto- 


290 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


getber  even  course  on  protection.  The  great  agricultural 
States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky 
voted  for  the  act  of  1816  ;  they  desired  protection  for  their 
iron,  wool,  hemp,  and  flax.  The  belief  was  also  common  in 
those  States  that  although  protection  might  enhance  the 
prices  of  protected  articles,  yet  it  would  bring  a  compensa¬ 
tion  in  the  form  of  an  enlarged  home  market  for  domestic 
products,  as  for  the  farmer’s  grain  and  meat.  The  agricul¬ 
tural  States  occupied  much  the  same  position  in  1824,  but 
afterward  they  wavered  or  changed  ground. 

Thus,  of  the  three  great  interests  that  protection  may  be 
said  to  antagonize,  commerce  was  the  first  and  farming  the 
last  to  array  itself  in  opposition.* 

It  was  many  years  before  the  constitutional  right  of  Con¬ 
gress  to  lay  protective  duties  was  denied,  or  before  such 
duties  became  a  party  question.  The  Democratic  party, 
when  reorganized  under  GeneralJackson,  took  up  the  line  of 
free  trade  ;  the  Whig  party,  which  then  appeared  in  opposi¬ 
tion,  the  line  of  protection.  The  geographical  strength  of 
the  two  parties,  so  far  as  it  was  affected  by  the  tariff,  turned 
mainly  upon  the  business  interests  of  localities,  which  again 
depended  upon  natural  and  economical  causes.  The  pro¬ 
tective  sentiment  in  Kentucky  was  due  as  much,  perhaps,  to 
the  interest  of  the  State  in  dew-rotted  hemp  as  to  the  admi¬ 
ration  of  Kentuckians  for  their  great  fellow-citizen  Henry 
Clay.  The  link  that  bound  Louisiana  to  the  Whigs  was 
sugar  cane.  In  Pennsylvania  the  situation  was  most  anom¬ 
alous.  From  the  beginning  that  State  was  strongly  pro¬ 
tectionist.  Her  mines  of  coal,  iron,  and  limestone  turned 
her  in  that  direction  as  strongly  as  the  rice  swamps  and  cot- 


*  Prof.  Sumner  gives  this  account  of  the  situation  on  the  passing  of 
the  Act  of  1828 :  “  New  England  and  the  Adams  men  wanted  high  duties 
on  woolens  and  cottons,  and  low  duties  on  wool,  iron,  hemp,  salt,  and  mo¬ 
lasses  (the  raw  material  of  rum).  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky 
wanted  high  taxes  on  iron,  wool,  hemp,  molasses  (protection  to  whisky), 
and  low  taxes  on  the  raw  materials  used.  The  Southerners  wanted  low 
taxes  on  everything,  but  especially  on  finished  goods.” 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


291 


ton  fields  of  South  Carolina  turned  her  in  the  opposite  one. 
And  yet  Pennsylvania  commonly  cast  her  electoral  votes 
for  Democratic  Presidents. 

At  present  it  is  common  to  describe  the  Republican  party 
as  protectionist,  the  Democratic  party  as  free  trade.  But 
special  causes  acting  in  certain  States  or  districts  sometimes 
bring  the  two  parties  together  upon  that  issue.  General 
Garfield  said,  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1870  : 
“West  of  Ohio,  north  of  Arkansas,  and  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  there  are  nine  States  represented  here,  all  of 
them  Republican,  some  of  them  overwhelmingly  Republi¬ 
can  in  politics.  Yet  if  I  understand  correctly  the  opinions 
of  the  fifty-seven  Democratic  and  Republican  Representa¬ 
tives  in  this  House  from  those  nine  States,  there  are  at  least 
fifty  of  them  who  are  in  favor  of  some  reduction  in  the 
present  rates  of  our  tariff.” 

We  may  now  take  a  view  of  another  group  of  political 
effects  caused  by  natural  forces  working  through  industrial 
and  social  life.  Soon  after  1789  the  country  divided  politi¬ 
cally  on  the  subject  of  constitutional  interpretation,  the  Fed¬ 
eralists  emphasizing  the  National  element,  the  Republicans 
the  State  element  of  our  dual  system  of  government.  As  Mr. 
Hildreth  characterizes  the  two  parties,  “  The  Federal  party, 
with  Washington  and  Hamilton  at  its  head,  represented  the 
experience,  the  prudence,  the  practical  wisdom,  the  disci¬ 
pline,  the  conservative  reason  and  instinct  of  the  country. 
The  opposition,  headed  by  Jefferson,  expressed  its  hopes, 
wishes,  theories,  many  of  them  enthusiastic  and  impracti¬ 
cable,  more  especially  its  passions,  its  sympathies  and  antipa¬ 
thies,  its  impatience  of  restraint.”  The  geographical  dis¬ 
tribution  of  two  parties  answering  to  these  descriptions 
could  hardly  fail  to  be  instructive.  “  The  Federalists,”  Mr. 
Hildreth  proceeds,  ‘‘  had  their  strength  in  those  narrow  dis¬ 
tricts  where  a  concentrated  population  had  produced  and 
contributed  to  maintain  that  complexity  of  institutions  and 
that  reverence  for  social  order  which,  in  proportion  as  men 
are  brought  into  contiguity,  become  more  absolutely  neces- 


292 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


saries  of  existence  ”  ;  while  “  the  ultra  democratical  ideas  of 
the  opposition  prevailed  in  all  that  more  extensive  region  in 
which  the  dispersion  of  population  and  the  despotic  author¬ 
ity  vested  in  individuals  over  families  of  slaves  kept  society 
in  a  state  of  immaturity,  and  made  legal  restraints  the 
more  irksome  in  proportion  as  their  necessity  was  the  less 
felt.” 

With  such  an  analysis  as  this  before  him,  any  student 
who  is  familiar  with  the  general  condition  of  the  country 
at  the  close  of  the  last  century  could  with  measurable  cor¬ 
rectness  indicate,  without  historical  investigation,  where  the 
two  parties  would  have  their  principal  strength.  New  Eng¬ 
land,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  for  a  time  South  Carolina, 
constituted  the  strength  of  Federalism  ;  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  the  strength 
of  Republicanism.  The  decision  between  the  two,  as  Mr. 
Hildreth  tells  us,  “  depended  on  the  two  great  and  growing 
States  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  ;  and  from  the  very 
fact  that  they  were  growing,  that  both  of  them  had  an  ex¬ 
tensive  backwoods  frontier,  and  that  both  were  constantly 
receiving  accessions  of  political  enthusiasts  from  Europe, 
they  both  inclined  more  and  more  to  the  Republican  side.” 
In  a  word,  it  was  the  rapid  growth  of  the  West,  and  of  those 
States  and  parts  of  States  where  society  most  closely  resem¬ 
bled  the  West,  that,  more  than  anything  else,  caused  the 
downfall  of  the  Federal  party.  Moreover,  it  was  a  clear 
perception  of  this  tendency,  and  of  the  loss  of  political  con¬ 
sequence  that  the  growth  of  the  West  would  cause  the  New 
England  States,  which  led  the  Federalists  of  that  section,  as 
a  class,  to  look  with  jealousy  or  hostility  upon  the  West,  and 
to  oppose  any  acquisition  of  territory  out  of  which  addi¬ 
tional  States  could  be  made. 

Still  the  contentions  of  the  Federalists  and  the  Republi¬ 
cans  were  not  over  the  barren  abstraction  of  a  strong  or  a 
weak  government,  but  over  practical  living  questions  ;  and 
an  examination  of  these  questions,  one  by  one,  confirms  the 
general  view  already  advanced. 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


293 


The  first  political  measures  to  arouse  the  country  were 
Hamilton’s  propositions  that  the  National  Government 
should  assume  the  debts  that  the  States  had  contracted  in 
carrying*  on  the  war,  that  it  should  then  fund  the  consoli¬ 
dated  public  debt,  and  that  it  should  create  a  National  bank 
commensurate  with  the  financial  affairs  of  the  Government 
and  with  the  business  affairs  of  the  country.  These  were 
all  propositions  that  conservative  communities,  molded  by 
industrial  and  commercial  ideas  and  habits,  and  possessing 
more  than  their  proportional  share  of  wealth,  would  natu¬ 
rally  favor,  and  that  agricultural  and  planting  districts,  less 
wealthy  and  less  schooled  in  the  ways  of  commerce,  would 
as  naturally  oppose.  Then,  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the 
French  Revolution,  England  and  France  became  the  leaders 
of  the  conservative  and  reactionary  and  of  the  innovating 
and  revolutionary  influences  of  Europe  and  of  the  world. 
For  more  than  twenty  years  this  issue  was  closely  drawn, 
and  it  could  not  fail  to  enlist  the  interests  and  the  passions 
of  the  great  body  of  the  American  people.  Still  more,  while 
Federalists  might  condemn  the  arbitrary  course  that  Eng¬ 
land  often  followed,  and  Republicans  denounce  the  frequent 
violence  of  France,  nevertheless,  given  the  ideas  and  the 
temper  of  the  two  parties,  it  was  natural  that  the  two  bodies 
should  move  on  diverging  lines.  The  New  England  manu¬ 
facturer  or  merchant  could  no  more  sympathize  with  France 
than  the  Western  farmer  or  Southern  planter  could  sympa¬ 
thize  with  England. 

Personal  slavery  is  despotism  in  a  revolting  form,  and  its 
prevalence  in  a  democratic  state  might  at  first  seem  an  im¬ 
possibility.  The  fact  is  otherwise.  Discussing  the  discon¬ 
tents  in  America  in  1775,  Mr.  Burke  said  that  “  where  multi¬ 
tudes  of  slaves  are  found  those  who  are  free  are  by  far  the 
most  proud  and  jealous  of  their  freedom.  Freedom  is  to 
them  not  merely  an  enjoyment  but  a  kind  of  rank  and  priv¬ 
ilege.  .  .  .  Such  were  all  the  ancient  commonwealths  ;  such 
were  our  Gothic  ancestors ;  such  in  our  days  were  the  Poles  ; 
and  such  will  be  all  masters  of  slaves  who  are  not  slaves 


294 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


theraselves.  In  such  a  people  the  haughtiness  of  domina¬ 
tion  combines  with  the  spirit  of  freedom,  fortifies  it,  and 
renders  it  invincible.”  We  may  add,  and  all  the  more  where 
the  slave  owner  and  the  slave  belong  to  different  and  repel¬ 
lent  races. 

The  fondness  of  the  Southern  slaveholders  for  States 
rights  was  perfectly  natural  ;  the  State  governments  they 
might  fairly  hope  to  control  in  the  interests  of  slavery,  but 
the  National  Government  might  become  too  large  for  them 
to  manage.  Then,  their  habit  of  personal  domination  caused 
them  to  look  upon  a  vigorous  central  authority  much  as 
feudal  barons  looked  upon  the  king.  In  Delaware  and 
Maryland,  and  in  South  Carolina  for  a  time,  special  forces 
overcame  the  natural  tendencies  of  slave  societies,  causing 
them  to  adhere  to  the  Federal  party  ;  some  of  the  slave 
States  at  a  later  day  followed  more  or  less  constantly  the 
fortunes  of  the  Whig  party  ;  but,  all  in  all,  the  gravita¬ 
tion  of  the  South  toward  the  party  that  Mr.  Jefferson 
founded  is  one  of  the  most  significant  facts  of  our  political 
history. 

The  divergent  tendencies  that  appeared  in  our  early  pol¬ 
itics,  while  sometimes  modified  or  repressed,  have  never 
ceased  to  act.  The  relative  density  of  population  and  the 
relative  wealth  of  different  districts,  acting  through  industry 
and  social  life,  have  made  themselves  felt  in  the  sphere  of 
financial,  economical,  and  political  ideas.  Until  slavery  be¬ 
came  the  overmastering  political  question,  new  States  on 
their  admission  to  the  Union  nearly  all  gravitated  toward 
the  Democratic  party.  Of  the  total  amount  of  public  debts 
repudiated  by  States  and  localities  down  to  the  present  time, 
an  overwhelming  preponderance  has  been  repudiated  at  the 
South  and  West.  The  explanation  is  easy.  The  hopeful¬ 
ness,  ambition,  and  fiscal  inexperience  of  new  communities 
cause  them  to  undertake  enterprises  beyond  what  their  re¬ 
sources  will  justify  ;  while  the  pressure  of  heavy  taxation, 
and  the  prevalence  of  loose  ideas  and  traditions  in  respect 
to  public  obligations,  together  with  disappointment  at  fail- 


PHASES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 


295 


lire  to  realize  expectations,  lead  them  to  hold  lightly  engage¬ 
ments  which  have  been  contracted.  At  the  South  since  the 
War  a  large  amount  of  public  indebtedness  has  been  dis¬ 
owned  on  account  of  its  political  parentage.  Schemes  to 
repudiate  or  impair  the  validity  of  the  National  debt  con¬ 
tracted  during  the  War,  at  one  time  so  rife,  had  a  much 
greater  proportionate  following  at  the  West  than  at  the 
East.  Between  1837  and  1863  the  country  sufPered  enor¬ 
mous  losses  from  incapable  and  dishonest  banking.  With 
few  exceptions  the  good  banking  systems  were  found  in  the 
old  States,  the  bad  ones  in  the  new  States.  Similar  tenden¬ 
cies  have  shown  themselves  in  connection  with  the  National 
currency.  Inflation  and  cheap  money  have  proved  very  at¬ 
tractive  to  the  younger,  poorer,  and  less  mature  parts  of  the 
country. 

We  need  not  suppose  that  the  greater  fidelity  of  the  old 
States  to  sound  finance  has  been  due  to  superior  native  vir¬ 
tue.  It  is  rather  a  matter  of  interest  and  habit.  These 
States  own  the  greater  share  of  the  public  indebtedness  held 
in  the  country  ;  their  banks  and  other  financial  institutions, 
as  trust  and  insurance  companies,  are  buttressed  upon  se¬ 
curities  ;  many  private  persons  are  holders  of  bonds,  while 
the  discipline  that  the  people  have  received  in  the  school  of 
experience  enables  them  the  better  to  understand  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  prosperity,  public  and  private.  Communities 
where  credits  far  outweigh  debts  are  not  likely  to  hold 
either  public  or  private  faith  in  small  esteem,  or  to  place  a 
low  valuation  upon  vested  rights.  At  the  East  the  Conti¬ 
nental  finance  is  remembered  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  a 
century. 

It  is  worth  observing  that  the  planting  and  farming  dis¬ 
tricts  have  commonly  looked  with  distrust  upon  the  manu¬ 
facturing  and  commercial  districts,  and  particularly  the 
cities.  This  distrust  it  was  that  in  1790  located  the  National 
capital  in  a  forest  on  the  Potomac,  much  to  the  disgust  of 
the  more  cultivated  classes  at  the  North.  The  proposition 
to  select  a  city,  as  New  York  or  Philadelphia,  was  vigorously 


29G 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


opposed.  Cities  were  held  to  be  the  home  of  extravagance 
and  corruption,  the  country  of  frugality  and  honesty. 
Speeches  that  great  statesmen  then  made  upon  this  ques¬ 
tion  breathe  an  idyllic  faith  in  woods,  streams,  and  farms 
that  is  very  refreshing. 

Note. — Prof.  A.  B.  Hart,  discussing  the  causes  that  hav'e  controlled 
the  location  and  growth  of  cities,  reminds  us  that  most  ancient  or  mediaeval 
•cities  were  grouped  about  a  hill,  or  on  an  island,  or  on  a  promontory,  or  if 
in  flat  land  they  were  not  immediately  on  the  coast ;  but  not  one  of  our 
cities  owes  its  growth  to  its  protected  situation.  Commerce  is  as  effective 
now  as  ever.  It  is  much  less  important  for  a  city  to  have  a  great  river 
behind  it  than  to  have  a  good  harbor  before  it.  The  farther  a  harbor  ex¬ 
tends  into  the  land  the  more  valuable  it  is.  The  point  where  the  tidal 
water  of  an  estuary  meets  the  fresh  water  of  a  river  is  marked  for  the  site 
of  a  settlement.  The  depth  of  harbors  was  once  of  less  consequence  than 
their  accessibility  and  protection ;  but  now  the  increasing  size  and  draft  of 
seagoing  steamers  have  caused  a  concentration  of  trade  into  the  few  large 
and  deep  harbors,  and  this  is  doubtless  one  cause  of  the  growth  of  the  large 
<3ities  of  the  United  States.  The  effect  of  railroads  has  been  to  utilize  more 
fully  the  best  harbors  wherever  found,  and  to  make  large  areas  of  rich 
•country  tributary  to  the  cities  built  upon  them.  When  manufactures  began 
to  grow  on  a  large  scale,  the  advantages  of  water-power  were  highly  ap¬ 
preciated,  but  now  where  coal  is  cheap  steam-power  is  equally  or  more  ad¬ 
vantageous.  Urban  life  has  great  attractions,  and  when  it  is  once  started 
a  city  is  likely  to  grow  from  sheer  force  of  gravitation.  The  crossings  of 
railroads  invite  business  and  population  far  more  than  the  junctions  of 
rivers.  In  America,  good  connections  with  the  interior  are  a  great  advan¬ 
tage.  “When  the  Alleghanies  were  pierced.  Western  commerce  poured 
down  into  the  termini  of  the  railroads.  The  keen  eye  of  Calhoun  early 
saw  that  the  ship  must  come  to  meet  the  car,  and  he  earnestly  advocated  a 
railroad  from  Charleston  northwestward.  But  Baltimore,  and  a  little  later 
Philadelphia,  had  Western  lines  years  before  Charleston  or  Mobile  or  Sa¬ 
vannah  or  Norfolk  or  Richmond,  and  even  before  New  York,  Boston,  Port¬ 
land,  or  Montreal.  The  passes  now  occupied  by  the  New  York  Central, 
Pennsylvania,  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  and  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railroads, 
are  as  much  trade  routes  as  the  Suez  Canal  or  the  Bosporus :  no  rival 
roads  can  compete  on  equal  terms ;  and  no  neighboring  cities  can  outstrip 
the  termini  of  these  great  trunk  lines.” — Practical  Essays  on  American 
Government,  Chap.  VIII. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 

References, — Greeley :  The  American  Conflict,  Vol.  I.,  Chaps.  l.~ 
XXII. ;  Cairnes :  The  Slave  Power  ;  De  Tocqueville :  Democracy  in 
America,  Vol.  L,  Chap.  XVIII.;  Johnston:  Political  History  of  the 
United  States,  Lalor’s  Cyclopaedia  (Slavery  in  United  States  History, 
Territories,  Annexations,  Abolition  and  Abolitionists);  Shaler: 
Nature  and  Man  in  America ;  Gold  win  Smith ;  The  United  States ; 
Wilson  :  History  of  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in  Amer¬ 
ica. 


Beginning  with  the  landing  of  the  fourteen  negroes  at 
Jamestown  in  1619,  slavery  gradually  extended  to  all  the 
English  Colonies.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  it  had  a 
legal  existence  in  all  the  States  except  New  Hampshire  and 
Massachusetts.  However,  by  far  the  larger  number  of 
slaves  had  always  been  at  the  South,  as  shown  by  the  follow¬ 
ing  table 


1715. 

'  1775. 

1790. 

North . 

10.900 

47.900 

46,100 

455,000 

40,300 

657,000 

South . 

At  the  last  of  these  dates  slavery  was  on  the  decline  at  the 
North,  and  its  final  extinction  there  was  soon  anticipated. 
At  the  South,  although  slaves  were  multiplying  rapidly  in 
numbers,  opposition  to  the  institution  was  general,  and  few 
men  of  character  could  have  been  found  to  say  that  its  in- 
21 


298 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


definite  existence  was  either  possible  or  desirable.  Virginia 
opinion  is  well  expressed  in  three  quotations  from  as  many 
prominent  statesmen.  Mason  :  “  Slavery  discourages  arts 
and  manufactures.  The  poor  despise  labor  when  performed 
by  slaves.  They  prevent  the  immigration  of  whites,  who 
really  enrich  and  strengthen  a  country."  Jefferson  :  “In¬ 
deed,  I  tremble  for  my  country  when  I  reflect  that  God  is 
just,  and  that  his  justice  can  not  sleep  forever.”  Washing¬ 
ton  :  “  I  can  only  say  that  there  is  not  a  man  living  who 
wishes  more  sincerely  than  I  do  to  see  a  plan  adopted  for 
the  abolition  of  it.”  Three  months  before  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  Congress  adopted  a  resolution  “  that  no  more 
slaves  should  be  imported  into  any  of  the  thirteen  colonies.” 
At  the  same  time  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  were  com¬ 
pelled  to  reckon  with  slavery  ;  they  left  it  where  they  found 
it,  an  exclusively  State  institution,  but  defined  its  relations 
to  the  Union  in  various  compromises. 

At  the  North  the  expectations  of  1787  were  fulfilled  ; 
slavery  continued  to  decline,  and  came  to  an  easy  death.  At 
the  South  events  took  a  wholly  unexpected  turn.  In  sixty 
years  the  slaves  increased  from  657,000  to  3,204,000  ;  the 
slave  States,  from  six  to  fifteen  in  number,  extending  not 
merely  to  the  sources  of  the  rivers  flowing  to  the  Atlantic,  but 
to  the  Ohio,  the  Missouri,  and  the  Eio  Grande.  Antislavery 
sentiment  died  out,  or  its  utterance  was  stifled.  Slavery  took 
a  firmer  hold  of  State  laws  and  institutions.  In  time  business, 
politics,  and  religion  were  all  adjusted  to  the  new  center. 
It  was  pronounced  an  industrial  and  social  necessity  and  a 
divine  institution.  “  Sir,”  said  Mr.  Dixon,  of  Kentucky,  in 
1854,  “  sir,  upon  the  question  of  slavery  I  know  no  Whig- 
gery  and  I  know  no  Democracy  ;  I  am  a  proslavery  man.” 
Nor  was  this  all.  The  Slave  Power  controlled  or  modified 
National  legislation  affecting  its  interests,  dictated  the  nom¬ 
ination  and  election  of  Presidents,  and  extorted  from  the 
Supreme  Court  a  decision  that  reversed  the  policy  that  the 
Government  had  pursued  on  one  important  feature  of  the 
subject  for  nearly  seventy  years.  More  even  than  this — its 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 


299 


influence  extended  beyond  the  Ocean,  reaching  the  marts 
and  cabinets  of  the  Old  World. 

In  searching  for  the  causes  of  the  contrast  between  the 
course  of  things  at  the  North  and  at  the  South,  we  must  lay 
aside  the  idea  that  it  was  due  primarily  to  moral  differences. 
Morality  played  its  part  in  both  sections,  but  the  causes  that 
we  seek  lay  in  quite  another  quarter.  In  stating  them  I 
shall  draw  largely  upon  Professor  Cairnes’s  admirable  work, 
The  Slave  Power.  “  The  true  causes  of  the  phenomenon 
will  appear,”  he  tells  us,  “  if  we  reflect  on  the  characteristic 
advantages  and  disadvantages  which  attach  respectively  to 
slavery  and  free  labor  as  productive  instruments  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  external  conditions  under  which  those  forms 
of  industry  came  into  competition  in  North  America.” 

The  economic  advantages  of  slavery  are  two  in  number : 
(1)  The  employer  of  slaves  has  absolute  power  over  his 
workmen,  and  (2)  he  enjoys  the  disposal  of  the  whole  fruit 
of  their  labors.  As  a  consequence  slave  labor  admits  of  the 
most  complete  organization  ;  it  may  be  combined  on  an  ex¬ 
tensive  scale  and  directed  by  a  controlling  mind  to  a  single 
end,  while  its  cost  can  never  be  more  than  the  cost  of  main¬ 
taining  the  slave  in  health  and  strength.  Its  economical  de¬ 
fects  are  three  in  number  :  (1)  It  is  reluctant,  (2)  it  is  un¬ 
skillful,  (3)  it  is  wanting  in  versatility.  The  slave  works 
reluctantly,  because  he  works  for  another  and  not  for  him¬ 
self.  Fear  and  not  hope  is  his  strongest  stimulus.  He  is 
unskillful  both  because  he  has  no  personal  interest  in  his 
work  and  so  has  no  motive  to  improve,  and  because  he  is 
condemned  to  ignorance  by  his  status  as  a  slave.  He  lacks 
invention  and  adaptability  for  much  the  same  reasons.  He 
uses  his  muscles  and  not  his  brains.  When  a  slave  has  been 
taught  to  do  a  certain  thing  he  must  be  kept  at  that  thing, 
and  so  he  becomes  the  merest  creature  of  routine  and  habit.* 


*  Dr.  Carpenter  remarks  upon  the  power  of  habit  in  those  persons  who 
lack  general  culture  and  volitional  control,  their  whole  course  of  action 
being  determined  rather  by  what  they  have  been  “  used  to  ”  than  by  what 


300 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Because  he  is  reluctant,  unskillful,  and  stupid,  the  slave 
must  be  constantly  watched  or  superintended.  Hence  slave 
labor,  to  be  profitable,  must  be  capable  of  being  brought 
within  a  narrow  field  of  observation.  It  may  pay  to  provide 
an  overseer  for  a  gang  of  men,  but  not  for  one  or  two,  or 
even  a  few. 

Both  by  its  advantages  and  by  its  disadvantages  slave 
labor,  as  a  rule,  was  excluded  from  a  large  part  of  the  field 
of  production.  It  could  not  be  employed  advantageously 
where  workmen  were  widely  scattered  or  where  work  was 
on  a  small  scale  ;  it  could  not  be  employed  where  skill  and 
versatility  were  required — ability  to  think,  and  so  to  deal 
with  cases  outside  of  the  ordinary  routine  ;  the  same  must 
be  said,  and  with  even  more  emphasis,  of  employments  re¬ 
quiring  the  use  of  machinery  and  tools  save  of  a  coarse  and 
bungling  sort.  Even  the  animals  used  must  be  such  as 


even  ordinary  common  sense  would  tell  them  was  the  best  for  them.  He 
mentions  a  family  reduced  to  absolute  want  who  refused  a  supply  of  ex¬ 
cellent  soup  thickened  with  barley  merely  because  “  they  had  not  been 
used  to  barley.”  He  says  females  of  the  humbler  classes  in  England  hav¬ 
ing  been  accustomed  to  one  pattern  of  prints  refuse  to  accept  departures 
from  it,  and  mentions  a  case  where  the  workman  of  an  outfitter  refused  for 
two  weeks  to  work  because  a  slight  alteration  had  been  made  in  the  pattern 
of  a  particular  garment,  although  the  new  pattern  imposed  no  more  labor 
than  the  old. — Mental  Physiology^  chap.  mii.  Northern  men  who  went 
into  the  business  of  planting  at  the  South  after  the  War  sometimes  fur¬ 
nished  the  negroes  whom  they  employed  with  improved  tools,  but  only  to 
have  them  broken.  President  Lincoln  did  not  emancipate  the  slaves  from 
routine. 

“  I  am  here  shown  tools,”  says  Mr.  Olmsted,  ‘‘  that  no  man  in  his  senses 
with  us  would  allow  a  laborer  to  whom  he  was  paying  wages  to  be  en¬ 
cumbered  with,  and  the  excessive  weight  and  clumsiness  of  which,  1  would 
judge,  would  make  work  at  least  ten  per  cent  greater  than  with  those  ordi¬ 
narily  used  with  us.  And  1  am  assured  that,  in  the  careless  and  clumsy 
way  they  must  be  used  by  the  slaves,  anything  lighter  or  less  rude  could 
not  be  furnished  them  with  good  economy,  and  that  such  tools  as  we  con¬ 
stantly  give  our  laborers,  and  find  our  profit  in  giving  them,  would  not 
last  out  a  day  in  a  Virginia  cornfield — much  lighter  and  more  free  from 
stones  though  it  be  than  ours.” — The  Seaboard  Slave  States.,  p.  4^. 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 


301 


could  stand  hard  usage — mules,  and  not  horses.  According¬ 
ly  slave  labor  was  mainly  cut  ofp  from  small  and  diversi- 
'  fied  farming,  from  all  kinds  of  manufacturing,  and  from 
navigation.  The  slave  is  too  dull  to  rise  to  the  level  of 
these  employments.  On  the  other  hand,  the  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  slave  labor  confined  it  mainly  to  those  oc¬ 
cupations  in  which  numbers  of  men  could  be  directed  by 
one  head,  in  which  the  processes  were  of  a  coarse  and  routine 
character,  and  in  which  costly  appliances  were  not  neces¬ 
sary.  Even  to-day,  while  the  common  negro  laborer  can  be 
profitably  employed  on  a  cotton  or  rice  plantation  in  Georgia, 
he  can  not  be  so  employed  on  a  wheat  farm  in  the  Dakotas. 

Such  were  the  principal  characteristics  of  slave  labor  as 
it  formerly  existed  in  the  United  States.  It  was  confronted 
one  hundred  years  ago  by  a  system  that  Professor  Cairnes, 
speaking  in  the  language  of  his  science,  calls  peasant  pro¬ 
prietorship,”  but  that  we  may  call  farm  ownership.  Here 
all  the  former  conditions  are  reversed.  Both  when  the 
work  is  on  a  small  scale  and  when  the  laborer  works  on  his 
own  account,  no  considerable  organization  of  labor  is  pos¬ 
sible.  There  is  small  room  for  classification  and  combina¬ 
tion.  “Occupation  may  be  found  for  a  whole  family  of 
slaves  according  to  the  capacity  of  each  member  in  perform¬ 
ing  the  dijfferent  operations  connected  with  certain  branches 
of  industry — say  the  culture  of  tobacco,  in  which  the  women 
and  children  may  be  employed  in  picking  the  worms  off  the 
plants,  or  gathering  the  leaves  as  they  become  ripe,  while 
the  men  are  engaged  in  the  more  laborious  tasks  ;  but  a 
small  proprietor,  whose  children  are  at  school,  and  whose 
wife  finds  enough  to  occupy  her  in  domestic  duties,  can 
command  for  all  operations,  however  important  or  however 
insignificant,  no  other  labor  than  his  own,  or  that  of  his 
grown-up  sons.”  The  farm  owner  is  his  own  director,  and 
superintendency  is  abolished.  He  vrorks  freely  since  he 
works  for  himself  ;  he  tends  to  become  skillful  and  versatile 
because  necessity  prompts  and  interest  invites  him  to  use  his 
brains  ;  and  he  takes  care  to  inform  and  expand  his  mind 


302 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


by  acquiring  a  school  education.  Paid  labor  was  often  em¬ 
ployed  under  this  system,  but  the  facts  already  stated  deter¬ 
mined  its  characteristic  features.  Free  labor  is  indeed  capa¬ 
ble  of  extensive  organization  on  public  works  or  in  manu¬ 
facturing  establishments,  but  this  does  not  affect  the  argu¬ 
ment. 

The  line  that  divided  the  free  from  the  slave  States  also 
divided  one  system  of  agriculture  from  another.  On  the 
north  side  of  this  line  the  soil  and  climate  were  adapted  to 
cereal  crops  and  small  farming ;  on  the  south  side,  to  tobacco, 
cotton,  rice,  indigo,  and  sugar.  Now,  while  slave  labor  was 
ill  adapted,  as  the  results  proved,  to  the  culture  carried  on  at 
the  North,  it  was  admirably  adapted  to  the  culture  carried 
on  at  the  South.  It  met  the  necessities  of  planting  but  not 
of  farming.  No  great  skill  was  required  to  raise  the  South¬ 
ern  staples,  while  the  conditions  of  organization  and  super¬ 
intendence  were  fully  met.  Under  the  old  regime  one  man 
could  cultivate  ten  times  as  many  acres  of  wheat  or  com  as 
of  tobacco  or  cotton.  On  the  other  hand,  while  farm  owner¬ 
ship  was  well  adapted  to  cereal  farming,  it  was  ill  adapted, 
at  least  in  competition  with  the  plantation  system,  to  the 
production  of  the  Southern  staples.  Farm  ownership  met 
the  one  set  of  conditions  as  slavery  did  the  other.  At  the 
North  the  capitalist  possessed  no  advantage  as  a  farmer  ;  at 
the  South  the  free  laborer  was  at  a  disadvantage.  This 
reasoning  is  enforced  by  the  fact  that  in  those  parts  of  the 
South  where  cereal  crops  were  cultivated,  as  in  portions  of 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  and  along  the  slopes  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  the  slave  could  not  compete  with  the 
free  man  ;  but  in  the  cotton  and  tobacco  field,  the  rice 
swamp  and  sugar  plantation,  the  free  man  could  not  com¬ 
pete  with  the  slave.  Using  the  names  of  the  two  staples  as 
types,  we  may  say  that  slavery  died  out  in  the  North  be¬ 
cause  the  North  raised  corn,  and  lived  on  in  the  South  be¬ 
cause  the  South  raised  cotton.  Still  cotton  was  much  more 
than  a  type,  as  we  shall  soon  see. 

But  these  facts  alone  do  not  explain  why  a  century  ago 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 


303 


slavery  was  thought  to  be  doomed  at  the  South,  or  why  it 
soon  after  entered  upon  a  period  of  extraordinary  growth. 
Still  other  facts  must  be  brought  into  view. 

An  intelligent  observer  wrote  in  1773  that  every  colony 
had  its  peculiar  commodity  :  Massachusetts,  fish  ;  Connecti¬ 
cut,  timber  ;  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  wheat ;  Virginia 
and  Maryland,  tobacco ;  North  Carolina,  pitch  and  tar ;  South 
Carolina,  indigo;  Georgia,  rice  and  silk.  Neither  one  of 
the  typical  commodities  is  here  mentioned.  Slave  labor 
was  employed  upon  the  characteristic  productions  of  the 
South;  tobacco  had  indeed  enriched  the  planters  of  Vir¬ 
ginia  and  Maryland,  but  neither  tobacco  nor  all  the 
peculiar  Southern  productions  together  promised  slavery 
a  long  life.  The  great  industrial,  political,  and  moral 
system  that  we  call  the  Slave  Power  never  could  have 
been  built  up  upon  any  economical  basis  existing  at  the 
South  at  that  time. 

The  cotton  plant  was  little  known  in  the  colonies  save  as 
a  garden  plant  before  the  Revolution.  Seven  bags  were  ex¬ 
ported  from  Charleston  in  1748.  In  1784  the  custom  officers 
at  Liverpool  seized  eight  bales  on  an  American  ship  because, 
as  they  said,  it  was  impossible  that  so  large  a  quantity  could 
have  been  produced  in  the  United  States.  The  exports  for 
the  next  six  years  respectively  were  14,  6,  104,  389,  842,  and 
81  bags.  Chief- Justice  Jay  apparently  did  not  know  in  1794 
that  cotton  was  an  article  of  export  from  his  country.  Al¬ 
though  cotton  fabrics  had  been  introduced  into  Europe 
from  Asia  before  the  Christian  era,  they  never  became  the 
object  of  large  manufacture  and  sale  previous  to  our  own 
century.  The  forty  thousand  bales  that  the  West  Indies 
furnished  England  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  are  said 
to  have  been  three-fourths  of  the  total  cotton  supply  at  that 
time. 

A  mighty  impulse  was  given  to  cotton  culture  in  the 
United  States,  and  through  that  culture  to  slavery,  by  a 
series  of  remarkable  inventions  made  in  the  second  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  In  1750  Kaye  invented  the  fiy 


3(J4:  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

shuttle  ;  in  1770  Hargreaves,  the  spinning  jenny  ;  in  1775 
Crompton,  the  mule  jenny ;  in  1769-’75  Arkwright  made  the 
inventions  that  hear  his  name  ;  in  1783  Watts  fitted  the 
steam  engine,  which  he  had  already  improved,  to  carding 
and  spinning  ;  and  in  1785-’87  cylinder  printing  and  the 
use  of  acids  for  bleaching  were  introduced.  But  these  in¬ 
ventions  did  not  solve  the  problem  ;  the  series  was  not  com¬ 
plete  ;  the  inventor  was  needed  on  the  plantation  as  well  as 
in  the  factory.  Cotton  fabrics  could  not  enter  largely  into 
the  commerce  of  the  world  until  they  became  cheap,  and 
they  could  not  become  cheap  so  long  as  a  day’s  labor  of  a 
slave  was  required  to  clean  five  or  six  pounds  of  cotton  for 
market.  So  everything  turned  on  a  cheap  and  expeditious 
mode  of  separating  the  cotton  seed  from  the  fiber.  In  1793 
Eli  Whitney,  a  Connecticut  schoolmaster,  invented  the  cot¬ 
ton  gin,  and  thus  completed  the  series  of  inventions  con¬ 
necting  the  plantations  of  the  South  with  the  markets  of  the 
world.  With  this  engine  a  slave  could  clean  a  thousand 
pounds  of  cotton  in  a  day.  Immediately  the  growing  of 
cotton  began  to  show  fresh  signs  of  life,  and  soon  to  increase 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  export  was  89,000  pounds  in 
1791  ;  138,000  in  1792  ;  487,000  in  1793  ;  1,600,000  in  1794  ; 
6,276,000  in  1795  ;  38,118,000  in  1804.  “  Within  five  years 

after  Whitney’s  invention,”  it  has  been  said,  “cotton  had 
displaced  indigo  as  the  great  Southern  staple,  and  the  slave 
States  had  become  the  cotton  field  of  the  Tvorld.”  The 
world  would  take  an  indefinite  amount  of  cotton  goods  if 
they  could  be  furnished  cheap  ;  the  manufacturers  of  Eng¬ 
land  would  furnish  them  cheap  if  the  staple  could  be  had  at 
a  low  price  ;  the  Southern  States — with  their  abundance  of 
new  lands  well  adapted  to  the  culture,  their  system  of  slave 
labor,  and  Whitney’s  gin — would  provide  the  staple  at  a  low 
price.  The  circle  of  inventions  was  completed,  and  events 
were  put  in  train  for  crowning  cotton  king,  and  for  building 
up  the  Slave  Power.  The  demand  for  cotton  enhanced  the 
value  of  slave  labor  and  of  cotton  lands  ;  the  enhanced 
value  of  slave  labor  and  cotton  lands  stimulated  slave  breed- 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 


305 


ing  and  Western  emigration,  and  tliese  in  turn  led  to  the 
formation  of  new  slave  States. 

Before  Whit^iey  made  his  invention  population  had  be¬ 
gun  to  flow  from  the  old  States  into  the  wilderness  west  of 
the  Alleghanies,  those  from  the  South  taking  with  them 
their  slaves.  Here  the  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  that 
they  found  were  similar  to  those  that  they  had  left  behind 
them  ;  the  line  separating  the  conditions  favorable  to  cereal 
crops  from  the  conditions  favorable  to  the  Southern  staples 
extended  westward.  In  other  words,  the  natural  causes  that 
were  bringing  slavery  to  an  end  in  New  England  and  in 
the  Middle  States  and  those  that  were  about  to  give  it  a 
new  lease  of  life  in  the  South,  declared  themselves.  The 
total  results  were  the  formation  of  a  new  South  and  the  for¬ 
mation  of  a  new  North  on  opposite  sides  of  the  Ohio  River. 

Two  subsidiary  causes  accelerated  the  westward  exten¬ 
sion  of  slavery,  one  industrial  and  one  political.  Cotton 
production'  as  carried  on  proved  very  exhausting  to  the  soil. 
In  a  few  vears  even  the  best  lands  were  worn  out  and  had 
to  be  abandoned.  Hence  resulted  a  constant  demand  for 
new  lands  even  to  maintain  the  former  production,  leaving 
increased  production  out  of  sight,  which  could  be  found 
only  in  the  West.  Then  the  political  status  of  slavery  was 
always  peculiar  and  even  precarious.  Against  the  institu¬ 
tion  were  arrayed,  in  the  long  run,  the  forces  of  modern  civ¬ 
ilization.  All  over  the  civilized  world  slave  labor  had 
shown  itself  incapable  of  competing  with  free  labor,  save 
under  unusual  circumstances.  For  example,  so  far  as  we 
can  see,  the  cotton  gin  alone  saved  slavery  in  the  old  South¬ 
ern  States  from  death.  The  maintenance  of  the  unusual 
conditions  essential  to  the  continued  existence  of  slavery — 
as  need  of  virgin  lands  and  immunity  from  interference — 
gave  rise  to  those  political  necessities  which  in  turn  con¬ 
tributed  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Slave  Power.  Not  only 
must  the  State  governments  be  kept  friendly,  but  the  Na¬ 
tional  Government  must  at  least  be  kept  from  becoming 
hostile.  This  second  end  again  could  be  accomplished  only 


•306 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


by  maintaining  the  largest  possible  representation  in  the 
two  Houses  of  Congress,  and  by  controlling  the  executive 
and  the  judiciary.  And  this  involved,  once  more,  the  rela¬ 
tive  numbers  of  slave  and  free  States,  or  what  was  some¬ 
times  called  “the  balance  of  the  Constitution.” 

In  1787  there  were  seven  Northern  and  six  Southern 
States.  In  1820  there  were  eleven  of  each  ;  the  balance  that 
many  statesmen  thought  necessary  to  political  equilibrium 
and  the  stability  of  the  Union  had  been  maintained  for  a 
full  generation.  Thus  far  the  formation  of  new  slave  States 
had  come  about  spontaneously,  without  reference  to  a  politi¬ 
cal  programme,  as  population  had  extended  westward  in 
obedience  to  general  causes.  Neither  was  the  annexation 
of  Louisiana  or  of  Florida  due  to  slave  influence  ;  both  of 
those  accessions  of  territory  flowed  rather  from  general  than 
from  local  causes.  Still  further,  slavery,  while  a  sectional 
interest,  had  not  thus  far  directly  influenced  party  politics. 
Hitherto  it  had  not  been  objected  to  the  admission  of  any 
State  to  the  Union  that  it  offered  either  a  free  or  a  slave  con¬ 
stitution. 

The  State  of  Missouri  balanced  Maine,  but  its  admission 
with  slavery  was  secured  by  the  South  only  by  conceding 
the  restriction  which  accompanied  it,  namely  :  “  That  in  all 
that  territory  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States  under 
the  name  of  Louisiana  which  lies  north  of  36°  30'  north 
latitude,  excepting  only  such  part  thereof  as  is  included 
within  the  State  contemplated  by  this  act  [that  is,  Missouri], 
slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the 
punishment  of  crime  whereof  the  parties  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted,  shall  be  and  hereby  is  forever  prohibited.” 
On  the  conclusion  of  this  famous  compromise  this  was  the 
situation  :  At  the  South,  territory  for  only  two  more  slave 
States,  Arkansas  and  Florida,  remained  ;  while  at  the  North 
the  territory  out  of  which  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Min¬ 
nesota,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  the  Dakotas,  and  parts  of  other 
States  have  since  been  carved  lay  open  to  free  labor.  Con¬ 
fronted  by  this  situation  the  Slave  Power  thought  it  neces- 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 


307 


sary  to  secure  new  territory  adapted  to  cotton  culture  that 
could  be  cut  up  into  new  States,  unless,  indeed,  the  old 
balance  were  to  be  abandoned.  This  belief,  combined  in 
the  first  two  instances  with  other  causes,  led,  first,  to  the 
admission  of  Texas  with  a  proviso  that  it  might  be  di¬ 
vided  into  five  States ;  second,  to  the  two  Mexican  annexa¬ 
tions  ;  and,  third,  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
with  a  view  of  making  slave  States  north  of  the  line  drawn 
in  1820. 

While  slavery  wholly  died  out  in  the  Northern  States, 
still  the  North  for  a  time  paid  little  attention  to  the  change 
that  was  going  on  at  the  South.  Opposition  to  the  spread 
of  slavery  in  the  Northwest  was  general;  also  a  quiet  ac¬ 
quiescence  in  its  extension  in  the  Southwest ;  but  of  active 
opposition  to  the  institution  as  such  there  was  very  little. 
About  the  time  that  the  change  of  front  had  been  fully  ac¬ 
complished  a  new  opposition  began  to  declare  itself.  The 
New  England  Antislavery  Society  was  organized  in  1832, 
the  American  Antislavery  Society  in  the  year  following, 
both  on  abolition  lines.  The  opinions  that  slavery  was  a 
grave  economical  mistake,  a  serious  political  evil,  and  a 
great  moral  wrong  began  to  take  root  in  the  Northern 
mind.  More  and  more  the  conviction  prevailed  that  free 
labor  and  slave  labor  were  antagonistical,  and  that  slavery 
was  a  standing  menace  to  the  peace  of  the  country.  ^Mr. 
Seward  said  that  the  conflict  between  the  two  was  irrepres¬ 
sible,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  that  the  republic  could  not  perma¬ 
nently  endure  half  slave  and  half  free.  Practical  oppo¬ 
sition  assumed  different  forms.  The  abolitionists  called  for 
immediate  abolition ;  originally  this  was  a  moral  and  not  a 
political  movement.  Political  opposition,  expressed  in  the 
Liberty  party  1840-’48,  in  the  Free-Soil  party  1848-’54, 
and  in  the  Republican  party  1854  and  years  following, 
strove  to  restrict  the  further  spread  of  slavery  in  any  quar¬ 
ter,  hut  did  not  directly  oppose  its  continued  existence  at 
the  South.  Directed  as  it  was  against  what  Southern  men 
freely  called  the  corner  stone  of  Southern  society,  opposi- 


308 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


tion  of  any  kind  could  not  fail  to  awaken  a  bitter  sectional 
controversy. 

The  contest  that  had  now  been  joined  between  the  two 
systems  of  labor  turned  more  and  more  against  the  South. 
Texas,  admitted  in  1845,  was  the  last  of  the  slave  States. 
Population  that  would  justify  the  division  of  that  State  w’as 
not  forthcoming,  the  Mexican  annexations  did  not  for  the 
time  enlarge  the  area  of  slave  territory,  and  the  attempt  to 
carry  slavery  north  of  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  met  with  fail¬ 
ure.  While  slavery  extended  only  to  the  Rio  Grande,  the 
admission  of  California  and  Oregon  gave  the  Pacific  slope 
to  freedom,  and  furnished  the  strongest  pledge  that  the  new 
States  yet  to  be  formed  in  the  West  and  Northwest  would 
be  free  States  also.  Kansas  was  demanding  admission  with 
a  free-state  constitution,  and  other  States  would  be  ready  in 
the  near  future.  In  1860  there  were  eighteen  free  States  to 
fifteen  slave  States.  With  all  the  rest,  the  Northern  States 
surpassed  the  Southern  in  population  and  in  wealth  even 
more  than  in  numbers. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  in  1854  brought 
into  the  field  a  great  political  party  distinctly  pledged  to 
oppose  the  very  policy  that  was  essential  to  the  growth  of 
the  Slave  Power,  and  in  the  end  to  its  very  existence.  The 
National  Republican  platform  of  1856  contained  the  declara¬ 
tion  :  “  That  the  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress  sover¬ 
eign  power  over  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  for  their 
government,  and  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  power  it  is  both 
the  right  and  the  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  in  the  Terri¬ 
tories  those  twin  relics  of  barbarism,  polygamy  and  slavery.” 
With  slavery  in  the  States  and  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
the  party  did  not  propose  to  interfere.  The  same  year  the 
Democrats  laid  down  the  rule  of  “  non-interference  of  Con¬ 
gress  with  slavery  in  the  States  and  Territories  or  the  Dis¬ 
trict  of  Columbia.”  In  1860  the  Republicans  stood  upon  the 
same  ground  as  before  ;  while  the  Democrats,  unable  to 
agree  as  to  the  meaning  of  non-interference,  split  into  two 
factions,  one  declaring  it  the  duty  of  the  Supreme  Court  to 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 


309 


determine  what  power  a  Territorial  legislature  had  over 
the  subject  of  slavery,  the  other  that  the  citizens  of  every 
State  had  an  equal  right  to  carry  their  property  (slaves  of 
course  included)  into  any  Territory  without  being  disturbed 
by  either  Congressional  or  Territorial  legislation.  The  elec¬ 
tion  of  Mr.  Lincoln  signified  the  future  limitation  of  the  in¬ 
stitution  within  the  bounds  in  which  it  then  existed  and  the 
loss  of  its  prestige  in  National  politics ;  and  the  Slave  Power, 
discerning  this  fact,  seeing  also  that  the  old  balance  between 
slavery  and  freedom  was  at  an  end,  and  believing,  or  affect¬ 
ing  to  believe,  that  the  next  step  would  be  interference  with 
the  institution  in  the  States  where  it  already  existed,  pre¬ 
cipitated  the  secession  of  eleven  States  from  the  Union,  and 
brought  on  the  Civil  War. 

Throughout  the  long  struggle  that  culminated  in  the 
War  the  better  adapted  any  State  or  district  was  to  slave 
cultivation,  the  more  firmly  was  the  institution  intrenched 
and  the  more  aggressive  was  its  spirit.  The  border  States, 
both  because  they  adjoined  the  North  and  because  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  slave  cultivation  were  less  favorable  than  they 
were  farther  South,  hesitated  on  the  brink  of  secession.  In 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri  the  Union 
sentiment  was  so  strong  that,  re-enforced  by  Union  troops, 
it  kept  those  States  from  seceding,  while  Virginia  went  with 
the  Southern  Confederacy  only  when  the  resort  to  arms 
came,  giving  as  her  reason  for  seceding  that  States  were 
sovereign,  and  that  she  could  not  sit  idly  by  and  see  sister 
States  coerced,  and  much  less  assist  in  their  coercion.  Nor 
is  this  all :  numbers  of  men  in  most  or  all  of  the  seceding 
States  adhered  to  the  Union.  These  were  nearly  all  found 
in  districts  where  slavery  had  a  feeble  hold  of  the  industrial 
system,  and  accordingly  where  the  conditions  of  slave  cul¬ 
tivation  were  not  well  developed.  The  Virginians  west  of 
the  mountains  refused  to  follow  the  Old  Dominion,  and 
formed  a  new  State  loyal  to  the  Union.  Moreover,  while 
the  Unionists  of  the  Appalachian  Mountain  system  below 
the  Virginia  line  may  not  have  been  in  a  majority,  they 


310 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


nevertheless  furnished  many  regiments  of  excellent  troops 
to  the  National  cause.  On  the  other  hand,  we  never  read  of 
similar  enlistments  in  tide- water  Virginia  or  the  ‘‘  black 
belt”  of  South  Carolina,  save  of  negroes.  Besides  the  at¬ 
tachment  of  the  cereal  farmer  of  the  mountain  regions  to 
the  Union,  he  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  plantation 
and  plantation  life,  but  rather  felt  for  them  an  invincible 
repugnance.  In  fact,  the  tendency  to  division  in  Virginia, 
where  perhaps  the  two  conditions  were  more  plainly  marked 
than  in  any  other  State,  antedated  the  war.  Speaking  of 
Kentucky  at  the  opening  of  the  struggle.  Professor  Shaler 
puts  forward  a  view  with  which  this  branch  of  the  subject 
may  well  he  dismissed  : 

When  in  1861  it  was  to  be  determined  whether  Kentucky  should 
go  with  the  South  or  North,  the  question  turned  in  the  main  on 
the  occupations  of  the  population.  Where  the  soils  were  rich  the 
plantation  system  was  possible,  the  slave  element  was  large,  and  in 
general  the  voice  of  the  people  was  for  union  with  the  South.  Where 
the  soils  were  thin  the  people  had  no  interest  in  slavery,  for  they 
owned  no  negroes.  Old  frictions  with  the  slave-holding  portions  of 
the  State  existed,  and  consequently  the  people  of  this  sterile  land 
were  generally  devoted  to  the  Union.  A  soil  map  of  Kentucky 
would  in  a  rude  way  serve  as  a  chart  of  the  politics  of  the  people  in 
this  crisis  in  the  nation’s  history.  If  Kentucky  possessed  a  soil  al¬ 
together  derived  from  limestone  there  is  no  question  but  that  it 
would  have  cast  in  its  lot  with  the  South. 

Only  one  or  two  further  facts  require  to  be  mentioned. 
At  the  South,  manufactures  barely  existed,  while  commerce 
and  agriculture,  as  compared  with  the  North,  were  greatly 
restricted.  Slavery  served  to  discredit  all  kinds  of  produc¬ 
tive  labor.  The  first  result  of  these  causes  was  that  indus¬ 
try  and  trade  were  far  less  attractive  than  at  the  North,  and 
men  of  character  and  standing  were  accordingly  thrown 
back  upon  the  professions  or  a  life  of  leisure.  To  such  a 
life  also  the  climate  somewhat  invited.  The  second  result 
was  the  enhanced  attention  paid  to  law  and  politics — to 
which  also  the  political  necessities  of  slavery  invited — and 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 


311 


to  military  and  other  similar  exercises.  The  political  and 
military  virtues  were  well  developed.  At  the  North,  on  the 
other  hand,  while  law  and  politics  were  by  no  means  neg¬ 
lected,  society  took  on  an  industrial  and  commercial  cast 
beyond  anything  elsewhere  known.  The  genius  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  was  pacific.  Not  only  Southerners,  hut  also  foreigners, 
often  reproached  the  people  of  the  North  for  their  devotion 
to  money-making.  If  the  military  virtues  were  not  despised, 
they  were  little  cultivated.  These  factors  affected  the  war 
in  two  ways  :  in  its  early  stages,  and  to  some  extent  through¬ 
out,  the  South  enjoyed  a  certain  advantage  arising  from  its 
military  qualities  ;  but  in  the  end  the  superior  population 
and  material  resources  that  freedom  had  fostered  won  the 
battle. 

At  the  close  a  note  that  has  already  been  sounded  may 
again  he  struck.  History  is  not  an  exact  science.  Phys¬ 
ical  causes  alone  do  not  control  the  life  of  man.  Individu¬ 
alities,  as  Carlyle  calls  them — free  wills — not  to  speak  of  haz¬ 
ard  or  accident,  make  definite  prediction  of  the  future  im¬ 
possible.  The  statesmen  of  the  Revolution  did  not  foresee 
the  future  course  of  slavery  ;  the  statesmen  of  1850  did  not 
anticipate  its  final  catastrophe.  There  is  the  more  reason 
for  repeating  this  note  here  because  no  chapter  in  our  his¬ 
tory  more  strongly  tends  to  establish  the  doctrine  of  uni¬ 
versal  physical  causation  than  the  chapter  relating  to  slavery. 
But  even  here  the  argument  fails.  It  required  a  statute  to 
put  an  end  to  the  institution  in  all  the  old  States,  and  in 
New  York  that  statute  did  not  come  until  1817.  One  half 
each  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio  was  quite  as  well  adapted 
to  slave  labor  as  one  half  of  Missouri ;  and  it  would  un¬ 
doubtedly  have  established  itself  in  all  those  States  had  it 
not  been  for  the  ordinance  of  1787.  As  it  was,  the  prohibi¬ 
tion  was  maintaiued  with  much  difficulty.  If  Mr.  Clay’s 
emancipation  plan  had  been  adopted  by  Kentucky  early  in 
the  century — not  a  violent  thing  to  suppose — there  is  little 
reason  to  think  that  the  action  would  have  Ir'en  afterward 


•312 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEi^CH  HISTORY. 


reversed.  Even  at  the  last  there  was  a  considerable  num¬ 
ber  of  men  at  the  South  who  did  not  accept  the  doctrines 
of  their  section,  while  at  the  North  the  champions  or  the 
apologists  of  the  Slave  Power  were  a  multitude. 

Again,  the  action  of  great  political  parties  can  not  be  posi¬ 
tively  predicted,  even  within  the  limits  of  their  traditions 
and  platforms.  Responding  to  impulses  imparted  to  them 
by  their  leaders,  swerved  by  the  pressure  of  particular  situa¬ 
tions,  or  overzealous  for  immediate  advantage,  they  all  tend 
more  or  less  to  play  fast  and  loose  with  their  principles. 
With  the  exception  of  that  lull  in  political  activity  follow¬ 
ing  the  War  of  1812,  called  the  Era  of  Good  Feeling,  there 
has  been  a  Strict-construction  party  and  a  Loose-construc¬ 
tion  party  in  the  United  States  from  the  organization  of  the 
Government,  the  Democratic-Republicans  and  the  Demo¬ 
crats  forming  the  one  line  of  succession,  the  Federalists,  the 
Whigs,  and  the  Republicans  the  other  line.*  But  what  in¬ 
consistencies  do  we  not  find  on  both  sides  !  Following  1801 
Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  opponents  seemed  to  change  places. 
The  Slave  Power,  while  adhering  to  States  rights  and  de¬ 
veloping  within  its  bosom  the  dogma  of  secession,  never 
scrupled  to  use  the  power  of  the  National  Government  to 
promote  its  interests.  And  finally  the  Republicans,  while 
emphasizing  National  principles  in  the  strongest  manner, 
have  sometimes  been  found  upon  ground  that  more  proper¬ 
ly  belonged  to  the  Democrats. 

Still  we  must  not  press  such  facts  as  the  foregoing  to  the 
'  extent  of  denying  the  existence  of  general  causes  or  of  dis¬ 
crediting  history  as  a  guide  in  practical  affairs.  There  is  a 
moral  order  :  similar  causes  produce  similar  effects.  Trees 


*  “  This  question  of  a  strict  or  a  loose  construction  of  the  Constitution 
has  always  been  at  the  root  of  legitimate  national  party  differences  in  the 
United  States.  All  other  pretended  distinctions  have  been  either  local  and 
temporary  or  selfish  and  misleading,  and  the  general  acceptance  of  any 
such  party  difference  would  mark  an  unfortunate  decline  in  the  political 
intelligence  of  the  people.” — Johnston:  Political  History  of  the  United 
.States^  Introduction. 


THE  SLAVE  POWER. 


313 


bring  forth  fruit  after  their  kind  ;  men  do  not  gather  grapes 
of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles.  The  great  source  of  difficulty 
is  that  moral  problems  are  very  likely  to  be  complex  and  so 
confused.  Man  and  Nature  together  make  history  ;  and 
man’s  powers  of  prevision  and  of  lordship,  although  limited, 
are  the  more  important  factors  in  the  product. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 

References. — Of  literature  dealing  with  the  academical  side  of 
the  subject,  there  is  an  abundance.  A  few  titles  are  given  without 
distinguishing  between  general  treatises  and  text-books.  Story: 
Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  (fourth  edi¬ 
tion,  edited  by  Cooley) ;  Cooley :  A  Treatise  on  the  Constitutional 
Limitations  which  rest  upon  the  Legislative  Power  of  the  States  of 
the  American  Union  (sixth  edition,  edited  by  Angell) ;  the  General 
Principles  of  Constitutional  Law  in  the  United  States  of  America ; 
Bryce :  The  American  Commonwealth ;  Andrews :  A  Manual  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States;  Desty :  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  with  Notes ;  Lalor :  Cyclopaedia  of  Political  Science, 
etc.;  Wilson:  Congressional  Government,  The  State,  Elements  of 
Historical  and  Practical  Politics ;  Fiske :  Civil  Government  in  the 
United  States  considered  with  Some  Reference  to  its  Origins ;  Hitch¬ 
cock  :  American  State  Constitutions,  a  Study  of  their  Growth ; 
Ford :  The  American  Citizen’s  Manual ;  O’Neill :  The  American 
Electoral  System ;  Macy :  Our  Government :  How  it  Grew,  what  it 
does,  and  how  it  does  it ;  Nordhoff :  Politics  for  Young  Americans ; 
Mowry :  Elements  of  Civil  Government,  Local,  State,  and  National ; 
Hinsdale :  The  American  Government,  State  and  National  (the  au¬ 
thor  has  taken  particular  pains  to  discriminate  the  National  and 
the  State  sides  of  our  dual  system,  and  has  given  unusual  space  to 
the  State  governments) ;  Jameson :  The  Constitutional  Convention. 

Of  pedagogical  literature  relating  to  the  subject,  there  is  very 
little.  Compayre:  Lectures  on  Practical  Pedagogy  (Morals  and 
Civic  Instruction) ;  Spencer :  Education  (I,  What  Knowledge  is  of 
most  Worth?);  Crehore :  Education,  vol.  vii  (1887),  p.  264  (The 
Teaching  of  Civics  in  Schools),  p.  456  (Foundation  Principles  of 
Government),  p.  547  (A  Primary  Study  in  Government) ;  Vose:  id., 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


315 


vol.  vii,  pp.  531, 617  (Methods  of  Instruction  in  Civics) ;  MacDonald : 
The  Academy,  vol.  v  (1890),  p.  373  (Teaching  Civics) ;  Bryce :  The 
Contemporary  Review,  July,  1893,  p.  14  (The  Teaching  of  Civic 
Duty ;  an  admirable  article,  written  from  the  English  point  of  view, 
but  of  universal  utility) ;  Mace :  Hints  on  Teaching  Civics. 

For  a  decade  and  more  increasing  attention  has  been 
paid  in  our  schools  to  teaching  the  branch  of  study  called 
Civics  or  Civil  Government.  The  aim  has  been  to  teach 
certain  facts  and  principles  relating  to  government  in  gen¬ 
eral,  and  to  our  own  Government  in  particular,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  enlarge  the  intelligence  of  the  pupils,  and  to 
inspire  them  with  the  spirit  of  civic  duty  and  of  patriotism. 
The  tendency  is  a  healthy  one.  Civics  is  closely  affiliated 
with  history ;  it  is  emphatically  an  historical  study.  On  the 
one  hand  a  knowledge  of  political  science  is  necessary  to  the 
successful  pursuit  of  history;  on  the  other,  history  is  the 
torch  that  illuminates  political  science.  Indeed,  the  two 
studies  are  so  closely  related  that  they  can  be  carried  on 
together  with  hardly  more  expenditure  of  time  and  effort 
than  either  one  alone — that  is,  if  really  valuable  work  is 
done.  In  the  elementary  and  the  high  school  the  two  sub¬ 
jects  are  commonly  taught  by  the  same  teacher.  These 
facts  are  a  sufficient  reason  for  closing  this  book  with  a 
chapter  on  Teaching  Civics. 

In  previous  chapters  some  remarks  were  made  upon  the 
value  to  historians  of  a  practical  knowledge  of  public  affairs. 
Mr.  John  Morley  has  illustrated  this  thought  by  some  ex¬ 
tremely  interesting  examples. 

It  would  perhaps  not  be  too  bold  to  lay  down  this  proposition : 
that  no  good  social  history  has  ever  been  written  by  a  man  who  has 
not  either  himself  taken  a  more  or  less  active  part  in  public  affairs, 
or  else  been  an  habitual  intimate  of  persons  who  were  taking  such  a 
part  on  a  considerable  scale.  Everybody  knows  what  Gibbon  said 
about  the  advantage  to  the  historian  of  the  Roman  Empire  of  having 
been  a  member  of  the  English  Parliament  and  a  captain  in  the  Hamp¬ 
shire  grenadiers.  Thucydides  commanded  an  Athenian  squadron, 
and  Tacitus  filled  the  offices  of  praBtor  and  consul.  Xenophon,  Po- 


316 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY’. 


lybius,  and  Sallust  were  all  men  of  affairs  and  public  adventure. 
Ouicciardini  was  an  ambassador,  a  ruler,  and  the  counselor  of  rulers ; 
and  Machiavel  was  all  these  things  and  more.  Voltaire  was  the 
keen-eyed  friend  of  the  greatest  princes  and  statesmen  of  his  time, 
and  was  more  than  once  engaged  in  diplomatic  transactions.  Rob¬ 
ertson  was  a  powerful  party  chief  in  the  Assembly  of  the  Scotch 
Church.  Grote  and  Macaulay  were  active  members  of  Parliament, 
and  Hallam  and  Milman  were  confidential  members  of  circles  where 
affairs  of  state  were  the  staple  of  daily  discussion  among  the  men 
who  were  responsible  for  conducting  them  to  successful  issues. 
Guizot  was  a  prime  minister,  Finlay  was  a  farmer  of  the  Greek 
revenue.  The  most  learned  of  contemporary  English  historians  a 
few  years  ago  contested  a  county,  and  is  habitually  inspired  in  his 
researches  into  the  past  by  his  interest  in  the  politics  of  the  present. 
The  German  historians,  whose  gifts  in  reconstructing  the  past  are 
so  valuable  and  so  singular,  have  for  the  most  part  been  as  actively 
interested  in  the  public  movements  of  to-day  as  in  those  of  any  cen¬ 
tury  before  or  since  the  Christian  era.  Niebuhr  held  more  than  one 
political  post  of  dignity  and  importance ;  and  of  historical  writers 
in  our  time,  one  has  sat  in  several  Prussian  parliaments ;  another, 
once  the  tutor  of  a  Prussian  prince,  has  lived  in  the  atmosphere  of 
high  politics ;  while  all  the  best  of  them  have  taken  their  share  in 
the  preparation  of  the  political  spirit  and  ideas  that  have  restored 
Germany  to  all  the  fullness  and  exaltation  of  national  life.* 

These  examples  point  directly  to  the  first  fact  that  should 
be  borne  in  mind  in  respect  to  political  education :  it  always 
begins  with  public  affairs,  and  never  with  books  or  formal 
teaching.  Some  first-hand  practical  knowledge  is  as  essential 
in  civics  as  some  first-hand  natural  knowledge  is  in  geogra¬ 
phy.  The  examples  point  also,  though  less  directly,  to  a  sec¬ 
ond  fact  that  is  hardly  less  important :  school  study  of  the 
subject  should  begin  with  facts  and  not  with  definitions.  The 
simple  concrete  elements  of  civil  government  are  not  unlike 
the  similar  elements  of  family  and  school  government,  and 
they  are  acquired  quite  as  easily  in  their  proper  time.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  fundamental  terms  of  political  science  are 


*  Critical  Miscellanies,  second  series,  pp.  2,  3. 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


317 


abstract,  and  the  definitions  of  some  of  them  are  disputed. 
Accordingly,  to  give  as  first  lessons  definitions  and  discus¬ 
sions  of  nation,  state,  sovereignty,  and  the  like  would  be  the 
extreme  of  folly.  Nor  can  anything  better  be  said  of  the 
National  and  States  rights  theories  of  our  own  Government. 

Some  very  simple  lessons  in  civics  may  be  given  from 
the  very  beginning  of  school  life ;  they  should  be  brought 
in  incidentally  in  connection  with  geography  and  history, 
should  be  oral  in  form,  and  should  relate  to  matters  proxi¬ 
mate  to  the  daily  life  of  children ;  formal  instruction  upon 
the  subject  should  not  be  deferred  beyond  the  eighth  year 
in  school.  By  that  time  the  boy,  if  really  intelligent,  by 
observation,  by  hearing  conversation,  and  by  reading  the 
newspapers,  has  accumulated  a  store  of  political  facts  and 
ideas  that  will  be  of  the  greatest  service  to  him.  His  facts 
are  concrete  facts,  relating  to  local  government,  to  State 
government,  and  to  the  National  Government.  He  has 
also  elaborated  or  received  some  political  ideas  and  theories 
which  will  probably  stand  in  need  of  future  correction. 
Back  of  this  knowledge  is  the  somewhat  similar  life  of  the 
home  and  school,  for  the  boy’s  first  king  is  his  father,  his 
fibrst  queen  his  mother,  and  his  first  law  and  authority  those 
that  his  father  and  mother  have  taught  him.  Taking  the 
boy  where  he  finds  him,  the  teacher  must  seek  to  enlarge  his 
range  of  facts,  to  clarify  his  ideas,  to  give  system  and  body 
to  his  knowledge,  and  progressively  lead  him  to  comprehend 
the  nature  and  functions  of  the  government  and  of  the  state 
and  his  relations  to  them.  Nowhere  is  it  more  important 
to  remember  that  a  child  of  fourteen  is  not  a  philosopher  ; 
nowhere  more  indispensable  to  avoid  nice  criticisms  and  ab¬ 
stract  views ;  nowhere  more  important  to  keep  in  close  and 
constant  touch  with  reality.  What  shall  the  method  be  ? 

Before  answering  this  question  directly  it  will  be  well  to 
state  briefly  the  reasons  why  we  teach  civics  at  all.  First, 
the  discipline  and  the  culture  derived  therefrom  are  the 
same  that  have  been  claimed  for  history  in  the  first  chapter 
of  this  work  :  the  science  demands  observation  and  reflec- 


318 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


tion  in  relation  to  a  very  important  class  of  facts,  the  affairs 
of  government,  the  activities  of  the  state.  But  the  great 
reason  for  teaching  the  subject  in  the  elementary  and  high 
schools  is  its  practical  uses  ;  the  pupil  needs  the  informa¬ 
tion,  the  guidance,  and  the  civic  spirit  that  it  affords.  But 
that  the  study  may  accomplish  these  ends  we  must  begin  at 
home  and  not  abroad.  A  second  reason  impels  us  to  the 
same  conclusion,  viz.,  the  pedagogical  law  relative  to  pro¬ 
ceeding  from  the  known  to  the  unknown. 

Our  fundamental  question  is  still  left  unanswered.  No¬ 
where  is  there  a  greater  distribution  of  political  powers  than 
in  our  own  country,  nowhere  a  greater  variety  of  govern¬ 
ments.  We  have  National  and  State  governments,  county, 
city,  and  town  governments,  not  to  speak  of  still  smaller 
jurisdictions.  With  which  of  these  shall  we  begin,  and 
how  shall  we  proceed  ?  Shall  we  begin  with  the  nation 
and  proceed  analytically  ?  Or  shall  we  begin  with  the  local 
elements  and  proceed  synthetically  ?  With  advanced  pupils 
it  is  no  doubt  better  to  begin  with  the  grand  whole  ;  but 
with  elementary  scholars  it  is  better  to  begin  at  home,  at 
the  center,  as  in  the  case  of  geography,  and  to  work  out¬ 
ward.  This  is  both  pedagogical  and  practical  ;  pedagogical, 
because  the  child’s  first  political  information  and  training 
relate  to  his  environment  ;  practical,  because  his  environ¬ 
ment  concerns  him  above  all  other  matters.  In  strictest 
sense  there  is  no  room  for  choice  ;  we  get  our  first  social  ex¬ 
perience  in  the  family  and  the  school,  and  our  first  political 
experience  in  the  meeting  of  the  town  council,  in  the  court 
of  the  village  magistrate,  and  on  election  day.  Still,  it 
must  be  said  that  when  a  boy  is  old  enough  to  take  up  an 
elementary  schoolbook  on  civics  he  has  generally  acquired 
much  of  this  primary  instruction  and  is  also  familiar  with 
facts  of  broader  scope. 

Perhaps  no  government  can  be  named  that  presents  to 
the  student,  whether  child  or  adult,  greater  difficulties  than 
our  own.  This  is  owing  to  that  very  distribution  of  powers 
just  mentioned.  “The  simplest  governments  are  despotic 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


319 


ones,”  Mr.  Webster  once  said  ;  “the  next  simplest,  limited 
monarchies  ;  but  all  republics,  all  governments  of  law,  must 
impose  numerous  limitations  and  qualifications  of  authority, 
and  give  many  positive  and  many  qualified  rights.”  But 
this  is  not  all  ;  greater  than  the  complexity  that  arises  from 
our  institutions  as  republican  is  the  complexity  that  grows 
out  of  their  double  character.  The  course  of  history  be¬ 
tween  1607  and  1789  made  our  Government  federal.  Before 
independence  it  was  the  colony  on  the  one  part  and  the 
Crown  and  Parliament  on  the  other  ;  since  independence  it 
is  the  State  and  the  Union.  What  the  Revolution  did  was, 
first  to  make  the  colonies  free  and  independent  States,  and, 
second,  to  bind  them  together  in  one  federal  state.  Our 
Government  is  not  unitary,  like  England  or  France,  but 
dual,  composed  of  States  that,  in  some  respects,  are  inde¬ 
pendent  and  sovereign,  and  of  a  Union  that  within  its  own 
sphere  is  supreme  and  paramount.  Every  American  citizen 
residing  in  a  State  is  subject  to  two  jurisdictions,  or,  as 
Professor  Bryce  has  put  it,  he  has  two  loyalties  and  two 
patriotisms.  Our  Constitution  is  peculiar.  As  a  distin¬ 
guished  writer  states  the  case  :  “  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  is  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  each  State, 
whether  referred  to  in  it  or  not,  and  the  Constitutions  of 
all  the  States  form  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  An  aggregation  of  all  these  constitutional  instru¬ 
ments  would  be  precisely  the  same  in  principle  as  a  single 
constitution,  which,  framed  by  the  people  of  the  Union, 
should  define  the  powers  of  the  General  Government,  and 
then  by  specific  provisions  erect  the  separate  governments 
of  the  States,  with  all  their  existing  attributions  and  limita¬ 
tions  of  power.”  No  person  can  make  anything  of  our 
political  history  or  of  our  institutions  who  does  not  firmly 
seize  these  fundamental  facts. 

Which  of  the  two  sides  of  this  system  shall  the  elemen¬ 
tary  pupil  first  attack  ?  Evidently  the  State,  using  the  term 
State  in  a  sense  that  includes  all  Jocal  authorities.  At  this 
point  a  serious  mistake  has  been  made  in  the  past.  This 


320 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


mistake  is  well  illustrated  by  most  of  the  text-books  formerly 
used,  and  by  many  of  those  still  used.  Apparently  the 
authors  of  these  books  have  thought  it  necessary  to  exclude 
mainly  the  State  or  the  Nation  in  the  interest  of  simplicity, 
and  then  have  thrown  out  the  State  as  the  less  imposing  of 
the  two.  Still  President  Garfield  stated  the  exact  truth 
when  he  said  : 

It  will  not  be  denied  that  the  State  government  touches  the 
citizen  and  his  interests  twenty  times  where  the  National  Govern¬ 
ment  touches  him  once.  For  the  peace  of  our  streets  and  the 
health  of  our  cities ;  for  the  administration  of  justice  in  nearly  all 
that  relates  to  the  security  of  person  and  property  and  the  punish¬ 
ment  of  crime ;  for  the  education  of  our  children  and  the  care  of 
unfortunate  and  dependent  citizens ;  for  the  collection  and  assess¬ 
ments  of  much  the  larger  portion  of  our  direct  taxes,  and  for  the 
proper  expenditure  of  the  same ;  for  all  this,  and  much  more,  we 
depend  upon  the  honesty  and  wisdom  of  our  General  Assembly  [at 
Columbus,  Ohio],  and  not  upon  the  Congress  at  Washington. 

Mr.  Woodrow  Wilson,  comparing  our  system  with  that 
of  England,  says  that  the  twelve  greatest  subjects  that  have 
occupied  the  public  mind  of  the  latter  country  in  the  present 
century  are  Catholic  emancipation,  parliamentary  reform, 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  amendment  of  the  poor  laws, 
the  reform  of  municipal  corporations,  the  repeal  of  the  com 
laws,  the  admission  of  the  Jews  to  Parliament,  the  disestab¬ 
lishment  of  the  Irish  Church,  the  alteration  of  the  Irish 
land  laws,  the  establishment  of  national  education,  the  in¬ 
troduction  of  the  ballot,  and  the  reform  of  the  criminal  law. 
All  of  these  subjects,  except  the  corn  laws  and  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  under  our  system  would  have  been  brought,  so 
far  as  they  could  be  dealt  with  at  all,  under  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  the  State. 

The  study  of  a  government  may  be  brought  under  two 
general  heads  :  its  organization  and  its  powers  ;  its  frame¬ 
work  or  mechanism,  and  what  it  may  do.  Under  the  first 
head  our  governments.  State  and  National,  conform  to  the 
same  model.  They  both  have  three  branches,  legislative, 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


321 


executive,  and  judicial.  The  legislatures  are  all  bicameral, 
composed  of  two  houses.  The  executive  branches  present 
hierarchies  of  officers,  extending  in  the  one  line  from  the 
constable  and  policeman  up  to  the  Governor  of  the  State, 
and  in  the  other  from  the  marshal  and  his  deputy  up  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  respective  judiciaries 
are  systems  of  courts  reaching  from  the  justice’s  or  mayor’s 
court  up  to  the  State  Supreme  Court  or  Court  of  Appeals, 
and  from  the  commissioner’s  court  up  to  the  Supreme 
♦  Court  of  the  United  States.  The  two  governments  as  ma¬ 
chines  do  not  present  to  the  pupil  very  great  difficulties. 
Such  difficulties  as  do  arise  are  likely  to  grow  out  of  the 
elections  and  appointments  of  officers.  Here,  however,  he 
deals  with  matters  of  fact  that  are  not  very  intricate  unless 
he  goes  into  too  much  detail.  For  example,  the  National 
Constitution  provides  that  each  House  of  Congress  shall  be 
the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifications  of  its 
own  members  (Art.  I,  sec.  5,  clause  1),  and  a  similar  pro¬ 
vision  will  be  found  in  every  State  constitution.  It  would 
not  be  advisable,  even  in  a  high  school,  to  describe  minutely 
the  methods  by  which  Congress  or  a  legislature  exercises 
this  power  ;  it  suffices  to  teach  that  every  legislative  house, 
like  every  other  deliberative  assembly,  has  such  power. 

The  main  sources  of  difficulty  lie  in  the  other  field.  The 
life  and  activities  of  an  organism  present  more  and  more 
difficult  problems  than  its  skeleton  or  anatomy.  Here  it  is, 
too,  that  we  run  at  once  upon  the  line  separating  National 
powers  and  functions  from  State  powers  and  functions, 
along  which  hard  questions  are  thickly  strewed.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  it  is  very  desirable  that 
every  citizen  should  know  wherein  he  is  subject  to  the  one 
jurisdiction  and  wherein  to  the  other. 

Here  it  will  be  found  helpful  to  remember  that  the  States, 
as  political  societies,  are  older  than  the  Union,  and  that  the 
National  Government  is  a  government  of  delegated  powers. 
Article  X  of  Amendments  to  the  Constitution  expressly  de¬ 
clares  that  the  powers  which  are  not  delegated  to  the  Nation 


322 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


or  are  not  prohibited  to  the  States  are  reserved  to  the  States 
or  to  the  people,  which  means  that  the  State  or  the  people 
may  exercise  such  powers  if  they  see  fit.  In  dealing  with 
this  question,  the  convention  that  framed  the  Constitution 
inquired  what  powers  were  really  national,  and  so  necessary 
to  the  common  defense  and  common  welfare,  and  what  were 
not ;  the  first  they  undertook  to  delegate  to  the  National 
Government,  leaving  all  others  to  the  States,  save  where 
they  saw  reason  for  prohibiting  their  exercise.  But  it  will 
by  no  means  suffice  merely  to  state  this  general  rule  ;  the 
instructor  must  descend  to  particulars,  or  rather  begin  with 
particulars  and  end  with  the  rule. 

The  National  Government  is  a  government  of  laws,  and 
the  teacher  can  not  do  better  than  to  ask  on  what  subjects 
Congress  can  legislate.  The  general  answer  to  this  ques¬ 
tion  is  found  in  Art.  I,  sec.  8,  of  the  Constitution.  It  is 
very  true  that  Congress  exercises  some  powers  that  are  not 
here  enumerated  ;  at  the  same  time  it  may  be  said  that  the 
springs  of  National  power  must  be  sought  in  this  section. 
Were  it  cut  out  of  the  document,  our  whole  political  system 
as  it  now  exists  would  tumble  into  ruins.  Too  much  pains 
can  hardly  be  taken  to  make  the  nature  and  the  extent  of 
these  legislative  powers  clear  to  the  pupil.  This  is  far  more 
important  than  to  discuss  many  questions  about  the  frame¬ 
work  of  the  Government  or  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts. 
The  section  referred  to  is  here  quoted  in  extenso  ;  following 
it,  two  or  three  provisions  will  be  considered  in  detail. 

Section  8. — The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect 
taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises,  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for 
the  common  defense  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States;  but 
all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the 
United  States. 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States. 

To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations  and  among  the  sev¬ 
eral  States  and  with  the  Indian  tribes. 

To  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform  laws 
on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States. 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


323 


To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin, 
and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures. 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securities 
and  current  coin  of  the  United  States. 

To  establish  post  offices  and  post  roads. 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts  by  securing 
for  limited  times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to 
their  respective  writings  and  discoveries. 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high 
seas,  and  offenses  against  the  law  of  nations. 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make 
rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and  water. 

To  raise  and  support  armies ;  but  no  appropriation  of  money  to 
that  use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years. 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy. 

To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces. 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the 
Union,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions. 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia, 
and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively  the 
appointment  of  the  officers  and  the  authority  of  training  the  militia 
according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress. 

To  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all  cases  whatsoever  over  such 
district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may  by  cession  of  par¬ 
ticular  States  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress  become  the  seat  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like  authority  over 
all  places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the  State 
in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines, 
arsenals,  dockyards,  and  other  needful  buildings.  And 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carry¬ 
ing  into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested 
by  this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  in 
any  department  or  officer  thereof. 

Revenue  is  the  motive  force  of  government.  In  England 
the  throne  is  the  fountain  of  honor,  but  the  treasury  is  the 
seat  of  power.  Revenue  means  taxes,  and  taxes,  since  they 


324 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


touch  everybody  sooner  or  later,  are  of  universal  interest. 
So  central  is  the  subject  of  revenue  and  expenditure,  that  a 
distinguished  statesman  already  quoted  was  accustomed  to 
say  that  the  person  who  could  track  every  dollar  in  the 
Treasury  to  its  source,  and  then  follow  it  to  its  destination, 
would  he  a  master  of  our  whole  system.  We  may  here 
bring  together  all  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  in  re¬ 
spect  to  National  taxation. 

‘‘  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes, 
duties,  imposts,  and  excises,”  etc.  (Art.  I,  sec.  8,  clause  1). 

“  Representative  and  direct  taxes  shall  he  apportioned 
among  the  several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this 
Union  according  to  their  respective  numbers  ”  (Art.  I,  sec.  2, 
clause  3). 

“  No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  he  laid  unless  in 
proportion  to  the  census  or  enumeration”  (Art.  I,  sec.  9» 
clause  4). 

“  No  tax  or  duty  shall  he  laid  on  articles  exported  from 
any  State  ”  (Art.  I,  sec.  9,  clause  5). 

To  explain  these  provisions  the  teacher  must  be  able  to 
think  clearly,  and  must  have  at  hand  a  store  of  facts  for 
illustrating  the  points  that  will  arise.  Tax  is  a  general 
term,  meaning  a  regular  pecuniary  charge  that  a  govern¬ 
ment  makes  upon  the  people  for  its  own  support.  It  in¬ 
cludes  duties,  imposts,  and  excises.  The  Constitution  recog¬ 
nizes  two  kinds  of  taxes. 

First,  direct  taxes,  which,  as  defined  by  the  Supreme 
Court,  consist  of  capitation  or  poll  taxes,  taxes  on  land,  and 
taxes  on  incomes,  all  of  which  must  be  divided  among  the 
States  according  to  their  representative  population.  While 
the  power  of  Congress  to  levy  such  taxes  is  unlimited  save 
in  respect  to  population,  they  cut  a  small  figure  in  our  fiscal 
history,  having  been  levied  for  but  five  different  years  :  1798, 
1813,  1815,  1816,  1861.  The  several  acts  have  declare4  the 
amount  to  be  raised,  ranging  from  $2,000,000  in  1798  to 
$20,000,000  in  1861 ;  have  apportioned  these  amounts  among 
the  States  according  to  the  prescribed  rule ;  have  defined  the 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


325 


property  on  which  the  amounts  so  apportioned  should  be 
assessed,  and  provided  for  assessors  to  levy  and  for  collectors 
to  collect  the  tax.  The  early  acts  put  the  taxes  on  slaves 
and  land ;  the  act  of  1861  on  land  alone. 

Second,  the  Constitution  seems  to  regard  all  other  taxes 
as  indirect,  but  does  not  so  call  them.  They  are  styled  duties, 
imposts,  and  excises.  It  is  impossible  closely  to  distinguish 
these  terms.  Duties  are  customs  levied  on  imported  goods  ; 
imposts  are  sometimes  duties  or  customs,  but  commonly  the 
word  is  used  in  a  broader  sense  as  synonymous  with  tax  ; 
excises  are  internal  taxes,  such  as  the  present  taxes  on 
whisky,  malt  liquors,  and  tobacco.  The  word  excise  does 
not  occur  in  our  laws,  internal  taxes  and  internal  revenue 
having  taken  its  place. .  To  distinguish  between  direct  and 
indirect  taxes  has  given  rise  to  some  litigation.  The  Su¬ 
preme  Court  has  decided  that  taxes  on  carriages,  on  incomes, 
and  on  bank-note  circulation  are  not  direct  taxes  but  ex¬ 
cises. 

Such  is  the  compass  of  the  National  taxing  power.  All 
the  taxes  that  Congress  has  levied  since  the  direct  tax  of 
1861  are  divisible  into  two  classes:  customs  and  internal 
taxes.  The  first  are  collected  by  customs  officers  called 
collectors  of  the  port,  the  second  by  collectors  of  internal 
revenue.  The  first  are  all  paid  in  the  first  instance  by  im¬ 
porters  of  dutiable  goods,  the  second  at  the  present  time  by 
the  manufacturers  of  whisky,  malt  liquors,  and  tobacco.  To 
avoid  confusion,  the  teacher  must  point  out  that  this  use  of 
direct  and  indirect  tax  differs  from  the  use  of  the  political 
economists.  The  economists  call  a  tax  direct  when  it  is 
really  paid  by  the  person  on  whom  it  is  assessed,  as  the 
owner  of  a  farm  ;  indirect,  when  it  is  added  to  the  price  of 
goods  and  is  passed  along  by  the  importer  or  manufacturer 
to  the  retailer  for  the  consumer  to  pay. 

A  few  words  in  relation  to  the  State  will  suffice.  Only 
two  provisions  relating  to  the  subject  of  taxation  are  found 
in  the  National  Constitution. 

“No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress, lay 


326 


UOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


any  imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what 
may  be  absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection 
laws  ”  (Art.  I,  sec.  10,  clause  2). 

‘‘No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay 
any  duty  of  tonnage  ”  (Art.  1,  sec.  10,  clause  3). 

These  are  the  only  restrictions  that  the  Nation  has  laid 
upon  the  State’s  taxing  powers  ;  and  outside  of  them  the 
State  regulates  the  matter  for  itself  in  its  constitution  and 
laws.  As  a  consequence,  the  taxing  powers  of  Congress  and 
of  the  State  legislature  to  a  great  extent  coincide  or  overlap. 
The  State  may  tax  whisky,  beer,  and  tobacco,  for  example,  if 
it  pleases  ;  but  there  has  been  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part 
of  both  jurisdictions  to  avoid  double  taxation  as  far  as  pos¬ 
sible,  lest  property  and  industry  be  unduly  burdened.  The 
teacher  will  not  find  it  superfluous  to  point  out  when  and 
where  and  by  whom  State  taxes  are  coUected,  at  least  in  the 
State  where  his  pupils  reside  ;  for  persons  who  consider 
themselves  intelligent  can  be  found  in  every  community 
who  suppose  that  the  taxes  paid  to  the  town  or  county 
treasurer  or  tax  collector  go  in  whole  or  in  part  to  support 
the  Government  at  Washington. 

Particular  attention  should  be  drawn  to  the  powers  with 
which  the  two  governments  are  clothed,  enabling  them  to 
execute  their  respective  functions.  Those  of  the  Nation  are 
of  the  amplest  sort.  At  no  point  is  it  dependent  upon  the 
State,  in  which  respect  it  difPers  wholly  from  the  Conti¬ 
nental  Congress  and  the  Congress  under  the  Articles  of 
Confederation.  If  its  operations  are  interfered  with  in  any 
manner  it  acts  through  both  its  executive  and  its  judicial 
branch.  What  is  more,  it  has  at  its  command,  or  can 
create,  all  the  physical  force  that  is  required  to  meet  any 
emergency  that  may  arise.  Witness  clauses  10-16,  Article  I, 
section  8,  of  the  Constitution,  quoted  above.  If  the  civil  of¬ 
ficers  are  unable  to  enforce  the  laws,  the  President,  as  com¬ 
mander  in  chief,  can  employ  the  army  and  navy,  and  even  the 
State  militias,  for  that  purpose  (Art.  II,  sec.  2,  clause  1).  The 
President  is  sworn  to  execute  his  ofiice,  and  to  the  best  of 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


527 


his  ability  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  (Art.  II,  sec.  1,  clause  8).  What  the  Presi¬ 
dent  can  do  in  this  direction,  acting  under  the  Constitution 
and  laws.  President  Lincoln  showed  in  the  Civil  War. 

The  State  also  is  fully  armed  with  power  to  do  its  part 
of  the  work  of  government.  It  acts  through  its  executive 
and  judicial  departments,  and  if  its  civil  officers  prove  in¬ 
competent  to  execute  the  laws,  the  Governor,  as  commander 
in  chief,  must  call  out  the  State  militia.  Nor  is  this  all : 
the  State  may  invoke  the  power  of  the  Union,  if  necessary. 
Here  it  should  be  observed  that  the  State  is  shorn  of  many 
powers  that  belong  to  a  nation.  For  example,  we  read  in 
the  Constitution  :  “No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of 
the  Congress,  lay  any  duty  of  tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships 
of  war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agreement  or  com¬ 
pact  with  another  State,  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage 
in  war,  unless  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  danger  as  will 
not  admit  of  delay”  (Art.  I,  sec.  10,  clause  3).  The  reasons 
for  these  prohibitions  lie  upon  the  surface.  If  the  States 
could  maintain  armies  and  navies  at  all  times,  could  enter 
into  treaties  and  compacts  with  one  another  and  with 
foreign  nations,  and  engage  in  war  at  their  own  discretion, 
the  Union  would  speedily  fall  to  pieces.  It  was  necessary 
to  prohibit  these  powers  to  the  State,  and  to  delegate  them 
to  the  United  States  for  the  sake  of  the  common  defense  and 
of  the  general  welfare.  But  to  compensate  the  State  for  the 
denial  of  the  power  of  peace  and  war,  certain  obligations  were 
laid  upon  the  United  States.  “The  United  States  shall 
guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of 
government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  invasion, 
and,  on  application  of  the  legislature,  or  of  the  executive 
(when  the  legislature  can  not  be  convened),  against  domes¬ 
tic  violence”  (Art.  IV,  sec.  4). 

The  suppression  of  domestic  violence  and  the  mainte¬ 
nance  of  domestic  order  falls  to  the  duty  of  the  State  ;  but  if 
for  any  reason  the  State  is  unable  to  perform  this  duty,  the 
United  States  are  pledged  to  come  to  its  rescue.  In  such  a 


328 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


case  the  Legislature,  or  the  Governor,  as  the  case  may  be, 
calls  upon  the  President  for  assistance,  and  it  then  becomes 
the  President’s  duty,  provided  he  deems  the  emergency  suf¬ 
ficient,  to  employ  the  army  and  navy,  and  even  the  State 
militias,  to  protect  the  menaced  member  of  the  Union.  In 
the  case  of  foreign  invasion,  the  President  need  not  wait  on 
the  action  of  the  State  authority,  for  such  an  invasion  of  a 
State  is  an  invasion  of  the  Union  itself. 

In  one  case  the  Nation  may  deal  with  domestic  violence 
directly.  If  such  violence  is  directed  against  itself,  or  if  it 
interferes  with  the  operations  of  the  National  Government, 
then  the  President  can  interpose  at  once,  so  far  as  its  own 
protection  renders  this  necessary.  The  criterion  in  such 
cases  is  not  the  character  of  the  acts  performed  or  the  per¬ 
sons  who  perform  them,  hut  the  authority  that  is  interfered 
with.  Reference  to  a  single  branch  of  the  National  service 
will  make  this  plain. 

Acting  under  the  power  to  establish  post  offices  and  post 
roads.  Congress  has  created  the  vast  postal  system  that  covers 
the  whole  Union.  It  is  that  branch  of  the  Government 
which  comes  into  practical  relation  with  the  largest  number 
of  people.  More  than  this,  its  operations  are  so  familiar 
that  in  teaching  civics  it  furnishes  the  best  possible  approach 
to  the  National  jurisdiction.  This  service  is  under  the  pro¬ 
tection  of  the  United  States  throughout  aU  its  operations. 
From  the  moment  that  a  letter  is  deposited  in  a  Government 
mail  box  on  the  street  until  it  is  delivered  it  is  in  the  custody 
of  the  United  States.  An  assault  upon  the  letter  carrier  go¬ 
ing  his  rounds,  or  upon  the  postmaster  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty,  is  an  attack  upon  the  General  Government ;  but 
before  the  letter  is  deposited,  or  after  it  is  delivered,  the 
General  Government  is  in  no  way  responsible  for  it.  To 
abstract  letters  from  the  postal  mail  box  is  an  infraction  of 
the  National  law;  to  abstract  letters  from  a  citizen’s  own 
private  box  nailed  up  beside  his  door  is  an  infraction  of 
State  law.  Again,  the  National  authority  is  in  duty  bound 
to  protect  by  armed  force,  if  necessary,  a  mail  train  in  its 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


329 


passage  across  the  country ;  but  it  is  not  in  duty  bound  to 
protect  a  passenger  train  that  runs  a  mile  ahead  or  a  mile 
behind  unless  it  has  been  duly  called  upon  to  do  so.  Still, 
if  a  railroad  has  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver 
by  a  United  States  court,  the  United  States  must  protect  the 
road.  Still  another  case  may  be  supposed.  A  village  post 
office  is  kept  in  a  store.  Two  men  break  into  this  store  at 
the  same  time  ;  one  removes  letters  and  money  from  the 
post  office,  the  other  removes  bags  of  coffee  and  money  from 
the  store  ;  both  have  robbed  the  same  man,  and  yet  one  has 
robbed  the  postmaster  and  the  other  the  merchant,  the  one 
committed  a  National  offense  and  the  other  a  State  offense. 
Verily,  it  is  not  strange  that  foreigners  should  find  it  diffi¬ 
cult  to  understand  our  Government,  and  that  many  of  our 
own  countrymen  should  be  confused. 

Undoubtedly  the  most  difficult  branch  of  our  government 
both  to  understand  and  to  teach  is  the  judiciary.  But  it  is 
not  its  organization  that  causes  the  trouble  so  much  as  its 
powers  and  functions.  The  operations  of  courts  of  law 
come  under  the  common  observation,  particularly  of  chil¬ 
dren,  much  less  than  the  operations  of  the  political  branches, 
the  executive  and  the  legislative.  Moreover,  these  opera¬ 
tions  are  often  intricate  and  confusing,  springing  out  of 
technical  rules  that  few  besides  lawyers  understand.  Here 
is  the  source  of  much  of  the  law’s  delay.  Now  pupils  in 
schools  are  not,  and  can  not  be  made,  lawyers,  and  it  is 
mere  waste  of  effort  to  multiply  details  in  teaching  this 
branch  of  our  subject.  An  outline  somewhat  like  the  fol¬ 
lowing  may  be  presented  : 

I.  Both  the  Nation  and  the  States  have  their  systems  of 
courts  created  by  their  constitutions  and  laws.  The  courts 
of  different  States  differ  in  many  minor  points  of  organiza¬ 
tion  and  function  and  in  name.  Generally  speaking,  a 
State  system  is  uniform  throughout  the  State,  as  the  Federal 
courts  are  throughout  the  Union.  It  is  desirable  that  the 
pupil  be  taught  the  names  and  organization  of  the  National 
courts,  and  of  the  courts  of  his  own  State. 

23 


330 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


II.  The  business  of  a  court  is  to  decide  cases,  or  what  are 
popularly  called  lawsuits,  that  grow  out  of  the  legal  rela¬ 
tions  of  men  in  society.  To  do  this  it  must  define  or  de¬ 
clare  the  law,  and  apply  it  to  the  pending  case.  Moreover, 
since  our  governments  are  based  upon  written  constitutions 
that  define  their  powers,  cases  arise  involving  the  conformity 
of  laws  to  the  constitutions.  Such  are  called  constitutional 
cases,  and  the  courts  of  final  resort,  or  the  higher  courts,  are 
authorized  to  pass  upon  the  laws  authoritatively,  declaring 
whether  they  are  or  are  not  constitutional.  When  a  law  is 
pronounced  unconstitutional  it  is  null,  void,  and  no  law. 

III.  By  the  jurisdiction  of  a  court  is  meant  its  power  to 
try  and  pass  upon  cases  and  to  administer  remedies.  The 
meaning  of  original,  appellate,  concurrent,  and  final  juris¬ 
diction  should  be  clearly  taught.  Again,  a  general  account 
should  be  given  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  several  courts,  or 
at  least  of  those  that  are  in  closest  contact  with  the  people. 
As  the  larger  part  of  the  judicial  business  done  in  any  State 
is  done  by  the  State  courts,  these  courts  should  receive  the 
greater  attention.  For  a  boy  to  know  what  is  done  in  the 
court  of  the  village  magistrate  or  of  the  county  in  which  he 
lives  is  more  important  than  the  same  knowledge  relating  to 
the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington. 

IV.  In  the  main  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  courts  is 
separate  from  and  independent  of  the  National  courts,  and 
vice  versa^  but  there  are  some  exceptions.  The  following 
are  the  principal  ones  : 

1.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  extends  to 
controversies  between  citizens  of  different  States,  and  be¬ 
tween  citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming  lands  under  grants 
of  different  States  (Constitution,  Art.  Ill,  sec.  2,  clause  1). 
At  the  same  time  the  State  courts  are  open  to  such  cases. 
Hence  a  citizen  of  New  York  or  Ohio  may  bring  an  action 
to  collect  a  debt  against  a  citizen  of  Michigan  or  Indiana  at 
his  option,  either  in  a  National  court  or  a  Michigan  court  of 
competent  jurisdiction,  and  either  may  try  the  case. 

2.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  extends  to  all 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


331 


cases  that  affect  or  involve  the  Constitution,  the  laws,  and 
the  treaties  of  the  United  States  (Constitution,  Art.  Ill, 
sec.  2,  clause  1).  Hence,  any  case  of  this  character  that 
arises  in  a  State  court  may  he  removed  from  such  court  to  a 
National  court  by  taking  certain  steps  prescribed  by  law. 
Such  a  case  is  said  to  involve  a  Federal  question— XhdX  is, 
the  authority  of  the  United  States.  Acting  under  this 
power,  the  National  courts  have  often  declared  State  laws  in 
conflict  with  the  National  Constitution.  But  this  is  the 
limit  of  their  right  to  pass  upon  State  laws.  Whether  the 
laws  of  a  State  are  in  agreement  with  the  State’s  own  con¬ 
stitution  is  a  question  for  its  courts  to  decide.  It  may  be 
further  observed  that  State  judges  themselves,  as  well  as 
State  Senators  and  Representatives,  and  all  executive  and 
judicial  officers,  are  bound  by  the  National  Constitution, 
laws,  and  treaties,  anything  in  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
their  own  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding  (Constitu¬ 
tion,  Art.  VI,  sec.  1,  clause  2).  The  meaning  of  this  is  that 
State  judges  must  set  aside  State  laws  if  they  find  them  in 
conflict  with  the  National  authority. 

3.  Save  in  a  few  instances  the  Constitution  does  not  ex¬ 
clude  the  State  courts  from  the  field  covered  by  the  National 
judicial  power.  The  subject  was  left  to  the  discretion  of 
Congress.  Congress  has  given  the  National  courts  exclusive 
jurisdiction  in  certain  classes  of  cases,  such  as  in  patent 
rights  and  admiralty,  but  within  certain  limits  it  grants  to 
State  courts  a  civil  jurisdiction  concurrent  with  that  of  the 
National  courts.  This  is  a  permitted  and  not  a  vested  juris¬ 
diction,  for  the  Supreme  Court  has  decided  that  Congress 
can  not  vest  any  portion  of  the  judicial  power  of  the 
United  States  except  in  courts  ordained  and  established  by 
itself.  In  a  large  range  of  legal  business,  therefore,  the 
citizen  may  appeal  to  the  State  or  the  National  courts  for 
relief,  as  he  may  see  fit,  the  ultimate  authority  of  course 
residing  in  the  latter.  Some  offenses  against  National  laws 
may  be  prosecuted  in  State  courts,  as  offenses  against  postal 
laws. 


332 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


How  far  the  teacher  should  enter  into  these  particu¬ 
lars,  if  at  all,  must  depend  upon  the  age  and  fitness  of  his 
pupils.  The  same  may  he  said  of  many  other  phases  of  the 
general  subject.  In  no  study  are  clear  and  correct  ideas 
more  important ;  in  none  are  confused  and  false  ideas  more 
harmful.  It  is  often  painful  to  listen  to  recitations  in  civics, 
even  in  high  schools,  so  hazy  is  the  thinking  and  so  inaccu¬ 
rate  are  the  facts.  The  criterion  hy  which  to  determine  what 
should  be  attempted  is  what  can  be  really  done.  It  is  very 
desirable,  or  rather  necessary,  to  keep  on  the  safe  side.  Such 
topics  as  attainder  and  corruption  of  blood  should  be  left 
until  the  pupil  grows  up  to  them. 

It  has  been  said  above  that  lessons  in  civics  should  begin 
with  facts  and  not  with  definitions.  However,  the  pupil 
should  not  he  finally  left  without  definitions.  Professor 
Bryce  observes  that  we  should  not  be  prevented  by  fear  of 
the  abstract  “  from  trying  to  make  the  pupil  understand  the 
meaning  of  such  terms  as  the  nation,  the  state,  and  the 
law.”  “You  need  not  trouble  yourselves,”  he  goes  on  to 
say,  “  to  find  unimpeachable,  logical  definitions  of  these 
terms;  that  is  a  task  which  still  employs  the  learned.  What 
is  wanted  is  that  he  should  grasp  the  idea,  first,  of  a  com¬ 
munity — a  community  inhabiting  a  country,  united  by  vari¬ 
ous  ties,  organized  for  mutual  protection,  mutual  help,  and 
the  attainment  of  certain  common  ends ;  next,  of  the  law,  as 
that  which  regulates  and  keeps  order  in  this  community; 
next,  of  public  oflBicers,  great  and  small,  as  those  whom  the 
law  sets  over  us  and  whose  business  it  is  to  make  us  obey  the 
law,  while  they  also  obey  it  themselves.”  A  pupil  properly 
taught  will  not  leave  the  elementary  school  imtil  these 
fundamental  ideas  are  firmly  rooted  in  his  mind. 

It  has  been  said,  too,  that  instruction  in  civics  should 
begin  at  home,  and  sufficient  reasons  have  been  given  for 
so  saying.  But  before  the  pupil  has  left  the  high  school 
behind  he  should  have  paid  some  attention  to  the  compara¬ 
tive  study  of  political  institutions.  Points  of  agreement 
and  of  contrast  between  our  own  Government  and  the  gov- 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


333 


emments  of  other  countries,  as  France,  Germany,  and  Eng¬ 
land,  should  be  taught,  care  being  taken  to  have  it  under¬ 
stood  that  the  first  of  these  countries  is  a  republic,  the  second 
a  federal  empire,  and  the  third  a  so-called  limited  monarchy. 
Not  only  would  the  information  thus  obtained  be  valuable, 
but,  what  is  even  more  important,  the  faculty  and  habit  of 
comparing  political  institutions  would  be  stimulated.  Nor 
should  comparative  study  be  limited  to  governments  that 
now  exist ;  it  should  also  extend  into  the  past,  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  the  cardinal  political  features  of  Greece  and  Rome 
in  the  cases  of  those  pupils  who  study  ancient  history.  The 
work  in  civics  should  always  be  kept  in  touch  with  history 
and  geography.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  postpone  a  kind  of 
comparative  study  to  the  high  school ;  for  example,  many 
facts  relating  to  the  Government  of  England  can  be  taught, 
and  should  be  taught,  in  connection  with  our  own  early 
history.  It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  value  of  large 
knowledge  of  the  present  to  the  student  who  is  exploring 
the  past. 

Along  with  the  study  of  the  Government  should  go  the 
study  of  the  political  organizations  and  the  political  ma¬ 
chinery  by  which  it  is  carried  on.  The  great  features  of 
the  party  system  that  has  grown  up  in  the  country,  with 
its  committees,  caucuses,  and  conventions,  are  of  more  prac¬ 
tical  importance  than  many  features  of  the  Government  it¬ 
self.  The  election  of  a  President  and  Vice-President  involves 
these  steps:  (1)  The  nomination  of  candidates  by  the  National 
Conventions;  (2)  the  nomination  of  State  electoral  tickets 
by  State  and  district  conventions;  (3)  the  appointment,  by 
popular  election  ou  Tuesday  following  the  first  Monday  in 
November,  of  the  electors ;  (4)  the  meeting  of  these  electors 
at  their  respective  State  capitols,  the  casting  of  their  ballots, 
and  the  dispatch  of  the  lists  to  Washington;  (5)  the  opening 
and  counting  of  the  returns  at  Washington  in  the  presence 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  on  the  second 
Wednesday  in  February,  and  the  declaration  of  the  result. 
Here  are  five  steps,  the  first  two  of  which  lie  wholly  outside 


334 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


the  law  in  the  field  of  voluntary  political  agency.  Our  party 
system  has  made  the  third  of  these  steps  the  real  presidential 
election,  whereas  the  people  in  1789  intended  that  the  fourth 
one  should  be  such  election. 

Perhaps  it  will  not  be  superfluous  to  remark  that  this 
chapter  is  not  an  attempt  to  describe  the  whole  compass  of 
teaching  political  science  in  its  substance  and  methods.  It 
is  only  an  attempt  to  emphasize  the  value  of  the  study,  to 
relate  it  with  history,  to  state  where,  as  determined  by  the 
author’s  own  experience  as  a  teacher,  the  main  points  of 
difficulty  arise  in  teaching  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  suggest  methods  for  overcoming  these  diffi¬ 
culties. 

The  leading  points  that  have  been  made  may  be  sum¬ 
marized.  Instruction  in  civics,  while  it  has  disciplinary 
power,  should  look  mainly  to  practical  or  guidance  ends  ;  it 
should  begin  with  concrete  facts  and  not  with  general  defi¬ 
nitions  ;  it  should  first  deal  with  the  political  facts  forming 
the  child’s  own  environment  and  gradually  work  outward; 
it  should  therefore  at  first  concern  itself  more  with  the 
State  element  than  with  the  National  element  of  our  dual 
system ;  the  distinction  between  the  framework  of  govern¬ 
ment  and  its  powers  must  be  emphasized,  due  effort  being 
made  to  overcome  the  difficulties  that  the  second  phase  of 
the  subject  presents  ;  great  pains  should  be  taken,  by  means 
of  striking  and  apt  illustrations,  to  make  plain  the  line 
separating  the  State  authority  from  the  National  authority, 
and  the  important  part  played  by  political  parties  must  be 
recognized. 

The  highest  ends  of  the  study  will  be  defeated  in  great 
part  provided  the  instruction  consists  of  mere  enumeration 
of  facts  or  definition  of  abstractions.  Nor  is  it  sufficient  to 
organize  the  facts  and  make  the  definitions  real.  The  study 
should  look  to  patriotism  and  the  civic  spirit — that  is,  to  love 
of  country  and  disposition  to  insist  upon  the  rights  and 
perform  the  duties  that  spring  out  of  the  citizen’s  relations 


TEACHING  CIVICS. 


335 


to  civil  society  and  the  state.  The  ends  of  human  govern¬ 
ment  are  these  rights  and  duties.  Dr.  Lieber,  the  distin¬ 
guished  publicist,  was  accustomed  to  say,  “No  right  without 
its  correlative  duty,  no  duty  without  its  correlative  right.’’ 
The  highest  aims  of  civics,  as  a  branch  of  education,  are  the 
instruction  of  youth  in  these  ends,  and  the  formation  of  char¬ 
acters  that  will  maintain  the  one  and  perform  the  other. 

Additional  References. — Report  of  the  Committee  on  Secondary 
School  Studies,  appointed  at  the  meeting  of  the  National  Education 
Association,  July  9,  1892  (commonly  called  “  The  Report  of  the 
Committee  of  Ten  ”),  p.  162  (The  Report  of  the  Conference  on  His¬ 
tory,  Civil  Government,  and  Political  Economy.  Contains  much 
useful  discussion). 

For  the  comparative  study  of  foreign  governments  the  following 
authorities  will  be  found  useful : 

Lamed  :  History  for  Ready  Reference  from  the  best  Historians, 
Biographers,  and  Specialists.  In  five  volumes  (Constitution  of  the 
Argentine  Republic ;  Constitution  of  Brazil ;  Constitution  of  Can¬ 
ada;  Constitution  of  England;  Constitution  of  France;  Constitu¬ 
tion  of  Germany;  Constitution  of  Japan;  Constitution  of  Lycur- 
gus ;  Constitution  of  Mexico ;  Constitution  of  Norway ;  Constitu¬ 
tion  of  Prussia ;  Constitution  of  Sweden ;  Constitution  of  the  Swiss 
Confederation;  Constitution  of  Venezuela;  also  the  references  and 
notes  to  still  other  constitutions) ;  Old  South  Leafiets :  Magna 
Charta ;  Federal  Constitution  of  the  Swiss  Confederation ;  Keltic : 
The  Statesman’s  Year  Book,  Statistical  and  Historical  Annual  of 
the  States  of  the  World.  An  invaluable  annual  compendium. 

Canada.  Munro :  The  Constitution  of  Canada ;  Bourinot :  A 
Manual  of  the  Constitutional  History  of  Canada  from  the  Earliest 
Period  to  the  Year  1888,  including  the  British  North  American  Act 
of  1867,  etc. 

England.  Fonblanque  :  How  We  are  Governed,  or,  The  Crown, 
the  Senate,  and  the  Bench ;  Bagehot :  The  English  Constitution, 
New  and  Revised  Edition;  Dicey:  Lectures  Introductory  to  the 
Study  of  the  Law  of  the  Constitution ;  Anson :  The  Law  and  Cus¬ 
tom  of  the  Constitution,  Part  I.,  Parliament,  Part  II.,  The  Crown ; 
Craik :  The  English  Citizen,  a  Series  of  Short  Books  on  hi°  Rights 
and  Responsibilities.  12  volumes. 


330 


now  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 


Switzerland.  Vincent :  State  and  Federal  Government  in  Swit¬ 
zerland  ;  Adams  and  Cunningham :  The  Swiss  Confederation : 
Lowell:  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1894  (The  Referendum  in 
Switzerland  and  America). 

Germany.  James  :  The  Federal  Constitution  of  Germany,  with 
an  Historical  Introduction;  Dawson:  Germany  and  the  Germans; 
Turner :  A  Sketch  of  the  German  Empire  from  Early  Times  to  the 
Dissolution  of  the  Empire  ;  Bryce  :  The  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

France.  Lebon  and  Pelet :  France  as  It  Is.  Specially  written 
for  English  readers,  and  translated  from  the  French  ;  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  Vol.  III.,  Sup¬ 
plement,  March  3,  1893  (Constitution  and  Organic  Laws  of  France 
from  1875-1889,  translated,  with  an  Historical  Introduction,  by 
C.  F.  A.  Currier). 

Lowell,  A.  Lawrence :  Governments  and  Parties  in  Continental 
Europe.  In  two  volumes.  This  is  a  work  of  great  value,  embracing 
in  its  field  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  and  Switzer¬ 
land;  with  an  appendix  containing  the  Constitutional  Laws  of 
France,  the  Statute  (Constitution)  of  Italy,  the  Constitution  of  the 
German  Empire,  the  Fundamental  Laws  of  Austria,  and  the  Con¬ 
stitution  of  Switzerland. 


SYLLABUS  OF 

HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

PREPARED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


I.  The  Educational  Value  of  History. 

1.  Studies  divided  into  four  groups:  Instrumental, 

information  or  guidance,  disciplinary,  and  culture 
studies,  1-4. 

2.  History  considered :  (i)  Its  subject-matter  facts  or 

events ;  (2)  subject-matter  to  be  elaborated,  thus 
introducing  a  logical  element ;  (3)  history  tests 
and  verifies  its  own  methods  and  results,  4,  5. 

3.  History  three  kinds  of  value  :  (i)  guidance — Milton, 

Guizot,  Locke,  Carlyle,  Macaulay,  and  Morley, 
quoted,  5-7;  (2)  disciplinary,  7-13;  (3)  culture, 

13,  14. 

4.  History  is  motive  power  and  a  school  of  patriotism, 

and  cultivates  a  conservative  spirit,  14-16. 

5.  The  teacher  to  have  (i)  an  educational  ideal,  and  (2) 

a  scheme  of  educational  values,  17. 

II.  The  Field  of  History. 

6.  History  is  the  story  of  man  living  in  social  relations 

in  the  world  as  contained  in  records:  it  comprises 
the  actions  of  men,  18. 

7.  History  divisible  into  universal  and  special  history, 

18,  19. 

8.  The  model  set  by  Herodotus,  19,  20. 

337 


338 


SYLLABUS  OF 


9.  Dr.  Freeman  and  Herbert  Spencer  quoted,  20. 

10.  The  current  conception  of  general  history  populal 
.  or  democratic,  21. 

11.  Lord  Macaulay's  qualities  as  an  historian,  22. 

12.  Green,  McMaster,  and  Carlyle  quoted,  23,  24. 

13.  The  contrast  between  Europe  and  Asia  and  Africa 

25,  26. 


III.  Sources  of  Information. 

14.  Text-books  of  history,  28. 

15.  Larger  works  covering  the  same  ground,  28-30. 

16.  Biographies,  series  of,  30,  31. 

17.  Books  summing  up  salient  features,  31. 

18.  Books  dealing  with  epochs,  “  The  Epoch  Series,* 

3L  32. 

19.  Books  relating  to  government,  law,  etc.,  32. 

20.  Books  relating  to  special  subjects,  32,  33. 

21.  Books  devoted  to  minor  political  communities,  States, 

counties,  etc.,  33,  34. 

22.  Maps  and  graphic  illustrations,  34,  35. 

23.  Original  materials :  documents,  monuments,  histor¬ 

ical  geography,  natural  science,  35-41. 

IV.  The  Choice  of  Facts. 

24.  The  number  of  facts  infinite;  choice  to  be  made 

with  reference  to  judicious  criteria,  43. 

25.  First  criterion  the  pupil's  stage  of  progress;  ele¬ 

mentary,  secondary,  and  higher  schools,  43-47. 

26.  Second  criterion  only  characteristic  facts  to  be 

taught,  47-5  2^- 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY.  339 


V.  Methods  of  Teaching. 

27.  History  teaching  in  German  schools;  stress  laid  on 

the  teacher  and  on  biography,  54 ;  Dr.  L.  R.  Klemm 
quoted  on  German  schools,  55-57;  Herbart-Ziller 
pedagogists,  57. 

28.  Points  in  foregoing  description  discussed;  oral  les¬ 

sons  and  text-books,  58,  59;  topical  method,  60. 

29.  The  lecture  method,  60,  61. 

30.  Dr.  Bain  on  the  art  of  study  quoted,  62  ;  discussed, 

63- 

31.  Historical  readers  and  text-books,  63,  64. 

32.  Topics,  quizzes,  etc.,  64,  65. 

33.  The  historical  seminary,  55,  56. 

VI.  The  Organization  of  Facts. 

34.  Organization  defined,  67  ;  logical  studies  and  fact 

studies,  67,  68 ;  fact  studies,  68-70. 

35.  Three  things  involved  in  teaching  history  :  facts,  re¬ 

lations  in  general,  and  causal  relations  in  particu¬ 
lar,  70 ;  three  grades  of  distinctive  work,  the  ele¬ 
mentary,  secondary,  and  higher,  71,  72. 

36.  Facts  of  history  to  be  organized  with  reference  to 

three  criteria :  time,  place,  cause  and  effect,  73,  74. 

VII.  The  Time  Relation  in  History  :  Chronology. 

37.  Dates:  What,  how  many,  and  how  taught,  76. 

38.  Method  of  the  child’s  lessons  in  chronology,  76-79. 

39.  Methods  of  writing  history :  external,  internal,  com-. 

bination,  80-82. 

40.  The  historical  period,  82,  83. 

41.  The  century,  the  dynasty,  the  reign,  the  administra^ 

tion,  84,  85. 


340 


SYLLABUS  OF 


42.  How  many  and  what  dates  ?  and  how  to  teach  them  ? 

85,  86. 

43.  Carlyle  on  the  character  of  action  quoted  and  com¬ 

mented  upon,  86,  87. 

44.  Criteria  in  respect  to  dates :  not  too  many,  88 ;  not 

too  few,  88;  much  depends  upon  the  subject,  89  j 
the  importance  of  dates  and  the  age  of  pupil  to  be 
considered,  90 ;  one  country  a  chronological  stand¬ 
ard  for  another,  90,  91. 

*  VIII.  The  Place  Relation  :  Geography. 

45.  Historical  bearings  of  geography  static  and  dy¬ 

namic,  92-94. 

46.  Additional  reasons  for  emphasizing  geography,  94, 

95- 

47.  Facts  of  history  to  be  associated  with  places  where 

they  occur,  95  ;  illustration  from  Mexican  War, 
95-97 ;  illustration  from  Revolutionary  War,  97, 
98 ;  illustrations  from  Chesapeake  Bay,  Lakes 
George  and  Champlain,  and  Delaware  Bay,  98, 

99- 

48.  Historical  essays  to  illustrate  grouping,  99,  100. 

IX.  Cause  and  Effect  in  History. 

49.  Two  kinds  of  knowledge,  that  and  why^  loi,  102. 

50.  Savage  and  civilized  modes  of  thought,  102. 

51.  Progress  of  the  conceptions  of  law  and  order:  Po¬ 

lybius,  Froissart,  Pascal,  and  Montesquieu  quoted, 
102-104. 

52.  Causation  makes  history  a  practical  guide,  104. 

53.  Historical  lessons:  Mr.  Lecky  quoted  on,  106;  Lord 

Bacon,  167  ;  Pascal,  108. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY.  34I 


54.  Caution :  In  early  stages  of  history-teaching  inter¬ 

pretation  not  to  be  pressed,  108,  109 ;  Guizot 
quoted,  109. 

X.  Physical  Causes  that  act  in  History. 

55.  Reciprocal  influence  of  Man  and  Nature,  in  ;  views 

of  Aristotle,  Bodin,  Montesquieu,  Mr.  Buckle,  Dr. 
Draper,  M.  Taine,  and  G.  P.  Marsh,  111-113. 

56.  The  human  will  and  environment  factors  in  history, 

1 13;  environment  exerts  two  kinds  of  influence, 

57.  Professor  Bryce’s  division  of  environment:  config¬ 

uration  of  the  earth’s  surface,  114-116;  meteor¬ 
ology  and  climate,  116;  productions,  116-118. 

58.  Illustrations  of  physical  influence  from  Egypt  and 

other  countries,  118,  119. 

59.  Greek  history  an  example  of  physical  influence,  119, 

120. 

60.  Causes  that  effect  the  location  of  cities,  1 20-1 24. 

61.  Effect  of  the  sea  and  of  insular  position  upon  the 

history  of  countries  illustrated  by  Great  Britain, 
124-126. 

XI.  Human  Causes  that  act  in  History. 

62.  Human  nature  the  only  proper  historical  cause,  phys¬ 

ical  nature  only  a  condition,  127,  128. 

63.  Race  and  national  character  considered :  Aristotle 

and  Montesquieu  quoted,  128,  129. 

64.  The  Time-Spirit,  129,  130. 

65.  Individual  genius :  Mr.  Buckle  and  Mr.  Lecky  quoted, 

130,  131 ;  the  middle  ground  stated,  131,  132. 

66.  Ideas  and  sentiments  historical  causes,  133,  134; 

business  of  the  historian  to  discover  them,  134,  135. 


342 


SYLLABUS  OF 


67.  Relations  of  human  and  natural  factors:  Shaler, 

Bryce,  and  Mackinder  quoted,  135  ;  man’s  reaction 
upon  Nature,  136;  M.  Lavisse  quoted,  136,  137. 

68.  Integration  of  the  three  categories,  time,  place,  and 

causation  in  teaching,  137. 

XII.  The  Teacher’s  Qualifications. 

69.  Qualifications  of  the  teacher  of  history  different  from 

those  of  the  teacher  of  science,  138,  139. 

70.  Same  as  those  of  the  successful  historian,  139. 

71.  Illustrated  in  J.  R.  Green;  grasp  of  the  subject, 

sense  of  perspective,  desire  to  know  and  tell  the 
truth,  ability  to  tell  a  tale,  enthusiasm,  and  insight, 
139-141. 

72.  Divisions  of  knowledge  with  which  the  teacher  of 

history  should  be  acquainted,  142-146. 

73.  Mrs.  Green  on  Mr.  Green’s  preparation  for  his  work, 

146-148. 

74.  United  States  compared  with  England  and  other 

countries  in  respect  to  historical  scenery  and  monu¬ 
ments,  148-150. 

75.  Compensating  advantages  arising  from  the  youth  of 

our  country,  150;  use  of  poets  and  novelists,  15 1, 

152. 

XIII.  Historical  Geography:  The  Old  World. 

76.  Dr.  Freeman  on  the  two  aspects  of  geography  as 

bearing  upon  history,  153. 

77.  Names  of  the  old  continents,  153-155. 

78.  Geographical  and  political  names  distinguished,  155, 

156. 

79.  Greece  and  the  Greeks,  156,  157. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY.  343 


80.  Italy  and  the  Romans.  157,  158. 

81.  Gaul  and  the  Gauls,  158. 

82.  Different  significations  of  Germany  at  different 
times,  159-161. 

83.  Austria-Hungary,  161. 

84.  Prussia,  162. 

85.  Division  of  Francia;  modern  France,  162,  163. 

86.  Spain,  163,  164. 

87.  Britain  and  England,  164,  165. 

88.  Caledonia  and  Scotland,  165,  166. 

89.  Mountains  and  plains  as  affecting  character,  167, 
168. 

90.  Openness  of  some  countries  to  invasion,  168. 

91.  Origin  and  meaning  of  geographical  names:  Clas¬ 
sical  examples,  169;  Central  Europe,  169,  170; 
Great  Britain,  170,  171 ;  meaning  of  particular  local 
names,  171-173. 

XIV.  Historical  Geography  :  The  New  World. 

92.  The  naming  of  America,  175-179. 

93.  Names  that  commemorate  blunders,  179,  180. 

94.  Religious  creeds  written  on  the  map  of  North 
America,  180. 

95.  ‘‘Codfish  Land,”  180,  181. 

96.  Names  that  have  disappeared  from  the  map,  181, 
182. 

97.  The  name  California,  182,  183. 

98.  Examples  of  name  expansion,  183,  184. 

99.  Capricious  part  played  by  the  Muse  of  History, 
185. 

100.  Aboriginal  names,  185,  186. 

101.  Names  given  by  colonizing  nations,  187. 

102.  The  names  Virginia  and  New  England,  187,  188. 


344 


SYLLABUS  OF 


103.  Lessons  taught  by  State  maps,  189,  190. 

104.  Names  and  nationalities,  190,  191. 

XV.  North  America  in  Outline. 

105.  The  teacher  to  carry  in  his  mind  outline  maps  of 
historical  theaters,  192. 

106.  Cordilleran  Mountain  system  divides  the  continent, 

193- 

107.  Western  division  described  :  Subdivisions,  193  ;  ele¬ 
vations,  193;  shore-line,  194;  rivers,  194;  closed 
side  of  the  continent,  195. 

108.  Eastern  division  described:  Simple  structure,  195; 
Appalachian  Mountains,  195;  Atlantic  Plain,  196; 
Central  Plain  and  its  division,  196,  197  ;  compara¬ 
tive  sizes  of  physical  divisions,  197  ;  three  great 
water-ways,  197,  198;  elevations,  199;  intercom¬ 
munication  between  subdivisions,  199-202;  east¬ 
ern  side  of  the  continent  the  approachable  side, 

202. 

109.  Historical  consequences  of  the  facts  set  forth,  202, 

203. 

XVI.  The  Colonization  of  North  America. 

no.  The  division  of  the  heathen  world  between  Spain 
and  Portugal,  204,  205. 

111.  The  Spaniards  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico:  Discoveries, 
206 ;  opportunity  to  take  possession  of  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi  Valley  lost,  206,  207  ;  reasons  why  lost, 
207,  208. 

1 12.  The  French  in  the  Lake  and  St.  Lawrence  Basin: 
Port  Royal,  208 ;  Quebec,  208,  209 ;  Montreal  and 
discoveries  in  the  Northwest,  209-21 1;  posts  and 
stations,  21 1. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY.  345 


1 13.  The  English  on  the  Atlantic  Plain:  Ground  of 
claim,  212;  slow  to  find  their  way  to  the  back 
country,  2 12-2 14. 

1 14.  The  French  and  English  in  contrast :  Three  regions 
of  colonization  harmonize  with  the  genius  of  the 
three  peoples,  214,  215;  advantages  and  disad¬ 
vantages  of  French  colonists,  215,  216;  advan¬ 
tages  and  disadvantages  of  the  English  colonists, 
216-218. 

XVII.  The  Struggle  between  France  and 
England  in  North  America. 

115.  Causes  of  the  struggle,  218. 

1 16.  Champlain’s  ideas,  220. 

1 17.  Extent  of  English  claim,  220,  221. 

118.  King  William’s  War  and  peace  following,  221,  222. 

1 19.  Queen  Anne’s  War  and  peace  following,  222. 

120.  King  George’s  War  and  peace  following,  223,  224. 

121.  French  and  Indian  War:  Its  causes,  224-228; 
routes  to  Canada,  228;  fall  of  Canada,  229;  the 
issue  of  the  struggle,  230. 

XVIII.  A  Conspectus  of  the  American 

Revolution. 

122.  Need  of  a  conspectus,  230. 

123.  War  opens  in  New  England,  231-233. 

124.  The  colonies  described,  233,  234. 

125.  Attack  on  Charleston  and  fall  of  New  York,  234, 

235- 

126.  Washington  in  New  Jersey  and  the  British  in  New 
York,  236. 

127.  Capture  of  the  Lake  Champlain  posts  and  invasion 
of  Canada,  237,  238. 

24 


346 


SYLLABUS  OF 


128.  Burgoyne's  invasion,  238. 

129.  General  Howe  captures  Philadelphia,  239. 

130.  The  French  treaty  and  the  retreat  of  the  British 
from  Philadelphia,  240. 

131.  George  Rogers  Clark  in  the  Northwest,  240. 

132.  War  on  the  sea,  241. 

133.  War  in  the  South,  241,  242. 

134.  Lord  Cornwallis  and  Yorktown,  242-244. 

XIX.  The  War  of  1812. 

135.  Fields  of  military  operations  open,  245,  246. 

136.  Questions  as  to  method,  246,  247. 

137.  Advantages  of  British  position  in  Canada,  248. 

138.  1812  :  War  in  the  Northwest,  249. 

139.  1813  :  The  Northwest,  the  Niagara  and  St.  Law¬ 
rence,  and  the  seacoast,  249,  250. 

140.  1814:  War  in  the  North,  250,  251;  in  the  Chesa¬ 
peake  region  and  in  the  South,  251,  252. 

XX.  The  Territorial  Growth  of  the 

United  States. 

141.  The  original  United  States,  with  causes  that  fixed 
their  boundaries,  255-258. 

142.  The  Louisiana  accession,  258-262. 

143.  The  acquisition  of  Florida,  262-266. 

144.  The  admission  of  Texas,  267. 

145.  The  first  Mexican  annexation,  267. 

146.  The  second  Mexican  annexation,  268,  269. 

147.  The  Oregon  controversy  and  its  settlement,  269- 

273- 

148.  The  purchase  of  Alaska,  273-275. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY.  347 


XXI.  Phases  of  Industrial  and  Political 

Development. 

149.  Travel  and  transportation  at  the  close  of  the  eight¬ 
eenth  century,  278,  279. 

150.  Rivers  as  means  of  communication,  280. 

151.  Washington  and  internal  improvements,  280-283. 

152.  Mr.  Gallatin’s  scheme,  284. 

153.  The  era  of  canals,  285,  286. 

154.  The  era  of  railroads,  286,  287. 

155.  Internal  improvements  in  politics,  287. 

156.  Sketch  of  tariff  history,  with  causes,  287-291. 

157.  Distribution  of  first  political  parties  in  the  United 
States,  291,  292. 

158.  Sketch  of  slavery,  with  causes,  293-296. 

XXII.  The  Slave  Power. 

159.  Opinion  in  relation  to  slavery  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution,  298. 

160.  Different  course  of  events  at  the  North  and  at  the 
South,  298. 

161.  Causes  of  the  difference  as  developed  by  Professor 
Cairnes :  Economic  advantages  and  disadvantages 
of  slave  labor,  299,  300  ;  economic  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  free  labor,  301,  302;  the  adap¬ 
tation  of  the  North  and  South  to  slave  and  free 
labor,  respectively,  302. 

162.  Cotton  culture,  303-306. 

163.  Balance  of  free  and  slave  States,  306,  307. 

164.  Sketch  of  the  struggle  between  freedom  and  slav¬ 
ery,  307-31  h 

165.  History  not  an  exact  science,  31 1,  312. 


348  HOW  TO  STUDY  AND  TEACH  HISTORY. 

XXIII.  Teaching  Civics. 

166.  Relation  of  civics  to  history,  315. 

167.  John  Morley  quoted  on  the  value  of  public  life  to 
historians,  315,  316. 

168.  Character  of  first  lessons  in  civics,  with  reasons 
why  the  subject  should  be  taught,  316-318. 

169.  Difficulties  attending  the  study  of  American  gov¬ 
ernment  growing  out  of  its  dual  character,  318,  319. 

170.  Importance  of  studying  the  State  side  of  our  gov¬ 
ernment,  320. 

171.  The  organization  of  government  and  its  powers: 
the  two  aspects  under  which  it  may  be  studied,  320 ; 
difficulty  in  first  field,  320;  in  second  field,  321. 

172.  General  powers  of  Congress,  322,  323. 

173.  Revenue  powers  of  the  United  States,  324,  325. 

174.  Revenue  powers  of  the  States,  325,  326. 

175.  Powers  of  National  and  State  governments  to  en¬ 
force  their  will,  326-328;  illustration  drawn  from 
the  postal  service,  328,  329. 

176.  Study  of  the  two  judiciaries,  329-332. 

177.  Professor  Bryce  quoted  on  study  of  civics,  332. 

178.  Comparative  study  of  governments,  332,  333. 

179.  Study  of  practical  politics,  333,  334. 

180.  Summary  of  chapter,  334,  335. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  Mr.,  classifies  Gallatin’s 
scheme  of  internal  improvements 
recommended  to  Congress,  284. 

Administrations,  presidential,  use¬ 
fulness  of,  in  classifying  historical 
matter,  84. 

Agricultural  productions,  influence 
of,  on  history,  33. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  treaty  of,  223. 

Alaska,  history  of,  as  a  territory,  273 ; 
name  of,  proposed  by  Mr.  Sumner, 
274. 

Alleghanies,  the  first  road  through 
the,  279. 

Alliance  of  France  with  the  Amer¬ 
ican  colonies,  240. 

America,  how  it  was  named,  178. 

American  ideas  in  New  England,  231. 

Americus  Vespucius  and  the  New 
World,  177. 

Analysis  of  matter  in  text-book,  ad¬ 
vantage  of,  65. 

Anaxagoras  on  the  organization  of 
facts,  69. 

Anecdotes,  use  of,  in  history,  48. 

Anglia,  the  ancient  name  of  Eng¬ 
land,  165. 

Antiilia,  or  the  Isle  of  Seven  Cities, 
an  imaginary  island,  179. 

Antiquities  as  a  source  of  informa¬ 
tion,  35 ;  knowledge  of,  indispensa¬ 
ble  to  the  teacher,  145. 

Appalachian  Mountains,  highest 
summits  of,  195. 

Apparatus,  historical,  34. 

Apperception,  11. 

Aragon,  permanent  union  of,  with 
Castile,  163. 

Archaeology  as  a  source  of  informa¬ 
tion,  35. 

Area  of  the  United  States,  with  dates 
of  acquisition,  276. 


Aristotle  on  the  contrast  between 
the  repose  of  Asia  and  the  energy 
of  Europe,  128. 

Arnold,  Dr.,  on  the  duty  of  study,  17 ; 
defines  history,  1 8. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  on  culture,  13. 

Asia  as  used  in  history,  154. 

Asia  Minor,  first  appearance  of  the 
name,  155. 

Association,  the  laws  of,  69. 

Assyria,  civilization  of,  25;  archae¬ 
ological  researches  in,  35. 

Astoria,  Ore.,  founding  of,  271,  272. 

Atlantic  slope,  average  width  of,  196. 

Attila,  destruction  of  towns  by,  123. 

Aulus  Gellius  on  the  humanities,  13. 

Austria,  a  confusing  name  in  history, 
161. 

Baccalaos,  origin  of  the  name,  180. 

Bacon,  Sir  Francis,  on  time,  the 
greatest  innovator,  107 ;  on  the 
true  office  of  history,  108. 

Bain’s  The  Art  of  Study,  quotations 
from,  61 ;  three  fundamental  propo¬ 
sitions  laid  down  in,  63. 

Baltimore,  the  battle  of,  251. 

Bancroft  on  the  issue  of  1754,  230. 

Barbarians,  renown  of  the  wondrous 
deeds  of,  18. 

Battle  of  Otterburn,  ballad  of,  men¬ 
tioned,  57. 

Bering  discovers  the  Strait  of  Be¬ 
ring,  273. 

Berkeley,  Bishop,  on  the  prospect  of 
planting  arts  and  learning  in 
America,  269. 

Berlin,  elementary  schools  of,  58. 

Bermudas,  a  part  of  Virginia,  188. 

Bibliography,  general,  xvii. 

Biographies  of  monarchs,  light 
thrown  on  society  by,  49. 


350 


INDEX. 


Bioj^raphy,  bearing  of,  on  teaching 
history,  30. 

Bladensburg,  Vjattle  of,  251. 

Blockade  of  our  water  front  by  the 
English,  the,  250. 

Bodin,  on  the  historical  influence  of 
physical  causes,  111. 

Bolingbroke  quotes  Dionysius,  6. 

Bon  lloinme  Richard,  the  battle  of, 
with  the  Serapis,  241. 

Boundaries  of  tne  United  States,  the 
first  national,  255. 

Brandywine,  battle  of  the,  239. 

Brazil,  why  it  was  so  called,  179. 

Britain  and  England,  the  distinction 
between,  164. 

British,  retreat  of,  from  Philadelphia, 
241 ;  capture  of  Savannah  by,  241 ; 
evacuation  of  New  York,  Savan¬ 
nah,  and  Charleston  by,  244. 

Bryce,  Professor,  on  the  subject  of 
environment,  114;  on  man  in  his 
relation  to  nature,  135;  on  Dr. 
Freeman’s  books,  142. 

Buckle  and  the  naturalistic  theory, 
112;  on  the  growth  of  civilization, 
118. 

Buena  Vista,  General  Taylor  at,  96. 

Burgoyne,  General,  surrender  of, 
238. 

Burke,  Edmund,  eulogium  of,  on  the 
maritime  enterprise  and  prosperity 
of  the  States,  241 ;  on  the  discon¬ 
tents  of  America  in  1775,  293. 

Cairnes,  Professor,  on  the  slave  pow¬ 
er,  29^ 

Caledonians,  in  northern  Britain,  the, 
165. 

Calhoun,  Mr.,  on  domestic  manufac¬ 
tures,  289. 

California,  campaign  of  1846  in,  96 ; 
the  most  romantic  of  American 
names,  182 ;  claimed  by  Spain,  270 ; 
by  Russia,  270. 

CalvinLstic  theology  of  Scotland,  to 
what  attributed,  112. 

Canada,  origin  of  name,  183. 

Canal,  the  first,  connecting  the  West 
and  tide  water,  201 ;  Delaware  and 
Hudson,  completed,  285  ;  Erie,  285. 

Capet,  Hugh,  skill  and  policy  of,  in 
producing  modern  France,  163. 

Capital,  national,  locating  the,  295. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  quotea,  6,  24,  86, 
108 ;  on  subjects  for  reading,  94. 


Carthaginians,  and  Africa,  the,  155. 

CastilC;  permanent  union  of,  with 
Aragon,  163. 

Cathedrals,  mediaeval,  what  they  ex¬ 
emplify,  130. 

•  Cause  and  eflect,  or  the  causal  rela- 
!  tion,  73. 

Central  Pacific  Railroad,  the,  high 
elevation  of,  194. 

Central  plain  of  North  America,  ex¬ 
tent  01,  196. 

Champlain,  the  father  of  Canada,  99 ; 
the  “Father  of  New  France,”  208. 

Charles  I’s  war,  85. 

Charles  V,the  last  monarch  crowned 
Roman  emperor,  160. 

Charleston,  surrender  of,  241 ;  evacu¬ 
ation  of,  by  the  British,  244. 

Chart,  value  of,  in  teaching  history, 
78. 

Chester,  origin  of  the  name,  171. 

Chevy  Chase,  ballad  of,  mentioned, 
57. 

Chicago,  the  site  of,  126. 

China  rich  in  history,  16. 

Christianity,  upon  what  based,  103. 

Chronology,  75,  78,  79,  88. 

Cicero  defines  history,  5. 

Cincinnati,  how'  it  was  named,  189. 

Cities,  location  of,  controlled  by 
“  geographical  selection,”  120. 

City  of  Mexico,  Scott’s  campaign 
against,  97. 

Civics,  a  historical  study,  315 ;  w'hy 
taught,  317 ;  how  taught,  318 ;  its 
practical  uses,  318  ;  its  difficulties, 
318 ;  mistakes  made  in  teaching, 
319;  fundamental  ideas  of,  332; 
the  highest  aims  of,  335. 

Civil  government,  the  teaching  of, 
in  our  schools,  315. 

Civil  War,  factors  afiecting  the,  311. 

Civilizations  of  Egypt  ana  Assyria 
contrasted  with  "those  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  25. 

Claims,  territorial,  made  by  Congress 
at  the  Revolution,  253. 

Clav,  Henry,  and  the  contest  of  1812, 
247. 

Climate,  the  influence  of,  upon  man, 
116. 

Climates,  the  doctrine  of,  112. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  succeeds  Howe 
in  command,  240 ;  meets  W ashing- 
ton  in  battle  at  Monmouth  Court 
House,  240. 


INDEX. 


351 


“  Codfish  land,”  N  ewfoundland  so- 
called,  181. 

Cologne,  origin  of  the  name,  171. 

Colonial  period,  the,  83. 

Colonies,  French,  of  America,  26 ; 
English,  26 ;  the  Thirteen,  189 ;  the 
French  and  English  contrasted, 
214 ;  English,  character  of  the 
people,  217 ;  American,  alliance 
of,  with  France,  240;  American, 
George  III  consents  to  the  inde¬ 
pendence  of,  244 ;  commodities  of, 
303. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  expectations 
of,  on  sailing  from  Palos,  175 ; 
name  of,  in  the  New  World,  178. 

Commerce,  infiuence  of,  on  history, 
33. 

Commodities  of  the  several  colonies, 
303. 

Communication,  establishment  of 
means  of,  between  the  several 
parts  of  the  country,  278;  lines  of, 
to  connect  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
and  the  interior  of  the  continent, 
280. 

Compayre,  on  the  universities  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  82. 

Constitutional  period,  the,  83. 

Continental  army,  the  disbanding 
of,  244. 

Continents,  distinctness  and  unity 
of,  154. 

Contradiction  of  terms  in  the  treaty 
of  1803  in  relation  to  Louisiana,  264. 

Cook,  Captain,  visits  coast  of  Cali¬ 
fornia,  270. 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  at  Wilmington, 
242 ;  takes  possession  of  York- 
town,  243;  surrenders  his  army, 
244. 

Cosmographiae  Introductio,  178. 

Cotton  gin,  historical  effects  of,  304. 

Cotton  plant,  the,  303 ;  culture  of, 
great  impulse  given  to,  by  remark¬ 
able  inventions  in  latter  part  of 
eighteenth  century,  303. 

Council  for  the  Indies,  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of,  175. 

Court,  the  business  of  a,  330  ;  juris¬ 
diction  of,  330. 

Courts,  systems  of,  of  nation  and 
states,  329;  state,  jurisdiction  of, 
330 

Cylinder  printing,  introduction  of, 
for  cotton  fabrics,  304. 


Dates,  how  shall  they  be  taught  ? 
76 ;  not  the  skeleton  of  history,  88. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  what 
it  expressed,  234. 

Deduction,  67. 

Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal,  com¬ 
pletion  of,  285. 

Delhi,  a  natural  center  of  commerce, 

■  121. 

Democratic  party  takes  up  the  line 
of  free  trade,  290 ;  reorganized  by 
General  Jackson,  290. 

Demosthenes  and  the  plain  of  Mara¬ 
thon,  14. 

De  Soto,  search  of,  for  gold,  49. 

D’Estaing,  Count,  arrival  of,  in  1778 
with  French  forces,  240. 

Detroit,  evacuation  of,  by  the  Brit¬ 
ish,  250. 

Diodorus  defines  history,  5. 

Dionysius  quoted  by  Bolingbroke,  6. 

Discoveries  and  explorations  of  the 
French,  211. 

Discovery,  the  right  of,  becomes  sole 
ground  of  title,  205. 

Discussions,  critical,  place  of,  39. 

Dissertations  as  sources  of  informa¬ 
tion,  32. 

Dixon,  Mr.,  of  Kentucky,  on  slavery, 
298. 

Documents,  literary,  as  a  source  of 
information,  35. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  181,  270. 

Draper,  Dr.  J.  W.,  and  the  natural¬ 
istic  theory,  113 ;  on  the  geography 
of  Europe,  114. 

Drawing,  an  instrumental  study,  2. 

“  Dutch,”  a  derivative  term,  159. 

Dutch  traders  at  New  York,  49. 

Duties,  protective,  after  War  of  1812, 
288. 

Earth’s  surface,  influences  that  are 
due  to  the  configuration  of,  114. 

Economics,  correlation  of  history 
with,  46. 

Education,  relation  of,  to  all  the 
powers  of  the  mind,  15. 

Egypt,  civilization  of,  25 ;  archaeo¬ 
logical  researches  in,  35. 

Egyptians,  division  of  time  by,  21. 

Electricity,  the  introduction  of,  287. 

Ellis,  Dr.  George  E.,  on  the  name 
“  Indians,”  176. 

Emigration,  early  Western,  201; 
New  England,  279. 


352 


INDEX. 


England,  arid  Britain,  the  distinction 
between,  164;  name  of*  why  it 
never  took  tne  place  or  Britain, 
165  ;  naval  superiority  of,  245 ;  es¬ 
tablishes  a  blockade  along  our 
ocean  Iront,  250. 

English  character,  qualities  of,  213. 

English  colonies  of  America,  26. 

English  on  the  Atlantic  Plain,  212. 

Environment,  its  influence  on  his¬ 
tory,  114  ;  Professor  Bryce  on,  114 ; 
stress  placed  on,  by  historians,  125; 
acts  upon  man,  127 ;  dependence 
of  man  upon,  135;  relation  of,  to 
foreign  invasion,  168. 

Epochs  of  historical  subjects,  32. 

Erie  Canal  completed,  285. 

Essays  as  sources  of  information,  32. 

Ethnology  as  an  aid  to  history,  36. 

Euripides  on  the  climate  of  Greece, 
116. 

Eutaw  Springs,  battle  of,  242. 

Explorations,  French,  211 ;  of  Lewis 
and  Clarke,  272. 

“  Fact  lore,”  remarks  on,  4. 

Facts,  objective,  4 ;  the  choice  of,  42  ; 
organization  of,  67 ;  connection  of, 
68;  historical,  principles  for  or¬ 
ganization  of,  73. 

Farm  owner,  the,  his  own  director, 
301. 

Federal  Convention,  the,  45,  94. 

Federal  party,  the,  291 ;  causes  of 
downfall  of,  292. 

Federalism,  what  States  constituted 
the  strength  of,  292. 

Flanders,  ahighw'ay  of  war,  168. 

Flint  on  the  philosophy  of  history, 
104. 

Florida,  why  it  was  so  named,  184; 
ceded  to  England  by  Spain,  256  ; 
history  of,  as  a  Territory,  262 ; 
Spanish  claims  to,  260 ;  sold  to  the 
United  States  in  1819  by  Spain, 
265 ;  causes  that  led  to  annexation, 
266. 

Fly  shuttle,  the  invention  of,  303. 

Forefather’s  Day,  85. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  as  an  historian, 
142. 

France,  modern,  the  evolution  of, 
163 ;  alliance  of  the  American  col¬ 
onies  with,  240. 

Francia,  the  division  of,  in  the  ninth 
century,  1 62. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  a  great  char¬ 
acter  in  history,  99. 

Freeman,  Dr.  E.  A.,  and  his  works, 
xviii ;  quoted,  20 ;  on  historical 
names,  34 ;  sense  of  reality  pervau- 
ing  books  of,  142 ;  on  failure  of 
German  writers  to  understand  the 
ancient  democracies,  143 ;  on  the 
distinction  between  geographical 
and  political  names,  155. 

Free  trade,  288 ;  the  Democratic 
party  takes  up  the  line  of,  290. 

French  and  Inclian  War,  86;  224. 

French,  colonies  of,  in  America,  20; 
in  the  Lake  and  St.  Lawrence 
Basin,  208 ;  the  hostility  of  the 
Iroquois  toward,  209 ;  discoveries 
and  explorations  of  the,  211 ;  mis¬ 
sions,  211. 

Froissart  distinguishes  history  from 
chronicle,  103. 

Frontenac,  Fort,  wLen  built,  222. 

“  Gadsden  Purchase,”  the,  268. 

Ganges  Valley,  fertility  of  the,  121. 

Garneld,  President,  on  state  govern¬ 
ment,  320. 

Gates,  General,  the  victor  of  Sara¬ 
toga,  242. 

Gaul,  use  of  the  name,  158. 

Generalization,  the  place  of,  73. 

Genius,  individual,  an  historical 
cause,  130 ;  of  the  age,  the,  129. 

Geography,  historical,  35 ;  physical, 
as  an  aid  to  study,  36 ;  in  its  bear¬ 
ings  on  history,  153. 

Geological  maps,  117. 

Geology  as  an  aid  to  historv,  36. 

George  III  consents  to  tlie  inde¬ 
pendence  of  the  American  colonies, 
244 

German  Confederation,  tlie,  160.  ' 

German  Empire,  the,  161. 

German  Kingdom,  the,  159. 

Germany,  teaching  history  in,  54; 
the  principal  political  phases  of, 
159 ;  Carolingian,  159 ;  of  Caesar 
and  Tacitus,  159. 

Gettysburg  as  a  held  of  battle,  93. 

Ghent,  the  Treaty  of,  252. 

Gibbon’s  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Koman  Empire,  8. 

Gladstone  describes  our  territory,  276. 

Goodwin,  Professor,  on  the  study  of 
Greece  alone  as  a  preparation  for 
Greek  study,  145. 


INDEX. 


353 


Government,  study  of,  320 ;  state 
and  national,  321 ;  American  com¬ 
pared  with  English,  320 ;  national, 
its  powers,  322;  judiciary  branch 
of,  ailiiculties  of  teaching,  329. 

Graeci  and  the  Komans,  157. 

Gray’s  discovery  of  the  Columbia 
River,  272. 

Great  Lakes,  the,  199. 

Greece  and  the  effect  of  environment 
on  historical  development,  119  ;  a 
curious  and  instructive  name,  156. 

Green,  John  Richard,  early  liie  of, 
at  Magdalen  Grammar  School,  146  ; 
first  historical  efforts,  etc.,  147  ;  as 
an  historian,  139 ;  quoted,  23  ;  on 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  108. 

Greene,  General,  succeeds  General 
Gates  in  command  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  forces,  242. 

Grimm’s  tales,  57. 

Guerrilla  warfare,  115. 

Guizot  on  the  value  of  history,  6 ; 
quoted,  73,  107. 

Gulf  of  Mexico,  the,  198. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  propositions  of, 
concerning  state  debts,  293. 

Hamilton,  Sir  William,  quoted  on 
organization  of  facts,  68 ;  quoted, 
73. 

Harris,  Dr.  W.  T.,  on  the  elementary 
school,  71. 

Harrison,  General,  occupies  Malden, 
250. 

Harrison,  Governor,  the  famous 
letter  written  to,  by  W  ashington, 
282. 

Haw'thorne  on  the  fortifications  of  the 
Potomac,  150. 

Hellas,  the  ancient  name  of  Greece, 
156. 

Hellenes,  the  ancient  name  of  the 
Greeks,  156. 

Henderson  quoted,  40. 

Herbart-Ziller  school  of  pedagogists, 
57. 

Herder,  the  founder  of  the  philoso  - 
phy  of  history,  104. 

Herodotus  of  Halicarnassus,  re¬ 
searches  of,  18, 19 ;  quoted,  119  ;  on 
the  distinctness  and  unity  of  con¬ 
tinents,  154. 

Hildreth,  Mr.,  on  the  Republican 
and  Democratic  parties,  291. 

Historian,  main  function  of  the,  109. 


Historical  geography,  153,  174. 

Historical  sense,  development  of,  58. 

History,  educational  value  of,  1 ; 
sources  of  information,  1 ;  great 
guidance  value  of,  5 ;  defined  by 
Cicero,  5 ;  practical  value  of,  6 ; 
trains  the  memory,  7  ;  valuable 
discipline  of  the  thinking  facul¬ 
ties,  8;  valuable  discipline  of  the 
imagination,  8 ;  object  of  teach¬ 
ing,  11 ;  Muse  of,  13 ;  furnishes- 
motive  power,  14 ;  field  of,  18 ; 
tw'o  grand  departments  of,  18 ;  the 
story  of  man,  18;  military,  19; 
ecclesiastical,  19 ;  constitutional, 
19 ;  text-books  of,  28  ;  bearing  of 
biography  on  teaching,  30;  treatises 
on,  32;  regimental,  34;  pictorial  and 
poetical  elements  of,  44 ;  philosophy 
of,  47 ;  a  moral  knowledge,  47 ; 
romance  in,  48 ;  poetry  in,  48 ; 
anecdote  in,  48 ;  stories  in,  48 ; 
what  the  teaching  of  it  involves, 
70;  logical  element  in,  73;  dy¬ 
namic,  not  static,  7 5 ;  the  time  re¬ 
lation  in,  75;  an  evolution,  82; 
cause  and  effect  in,  101 ;  the  true 
office  of,  108 ;  physical  causes  that 
act  in,  110 ;  spiritual  elements  of, 
112 ;  human  causes  that  act  in, 
127  ;  not  an  exact  science,  311. 

History  of  England  from  the  Acces¬ 
sion  of  James  II,  Macaulay’s,  re¬ 
ferred  to,  22. 

Holy  Places,  the,  94. 

Holy  Roman  Empire,  importance 
of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the, 
160. 

Howe,  General,  defeats  Washington 
at  Brandywine,  239. 

Hudson  River,  discovery  of,  48. 

Hull,  invasion  of  Canada  by,  249. 

Human  causes  that  act  in  history, 
127. 

Humanities,  the,  13. 

Hungary,  what  it  consists  of,  161. 

Iceland,  Professor  Bryce  on,  117. 

Illustration,  materials  for,  151. 

Imagination,  faculty  of,  45. 

Improvements,  internal,  interest  in, 
283 ;  scheme  of,  recommended  to 
Congress  by  Gallatin,  284 ;  become 
a  political  question,  287. 

Independence  of  text-books,  teach¬ 
er’s,  65. 


INDEX. 


Indian  names,  186. 

Indians,  how  they  came  to  be  so 
called,  175 ;  ignorance  of  the,  con¬ 
cerning  Nature,  102. 

Induction,  68. 

Industrial  systems,  50. 

Inhabitants  of  mountainous  regions 
and  those  of  plains  and  v^leys 
contrasted,  166. 

Inscriptions  as  a  source  of  informa¬ 
tion,  35. 

Instruction,  elementary,  48 ;  in  his¬ 
tory,  principles  that  should  under¬ 
lie  it,  56. 

Iroquois,  the,  hostility  of,  toward  the 
French,  209 ;  the,  in  early  Amer¬ 
ican  history,  227. 

Italy,  extent  of,  in  time  of  Julius 
Caesar,  157. 

Jackson,  General,  victory  of,  at  New 
Orleans,  252 ;  reorganizes  the 
D  emocratic  party,  290. 

James,  Professor,  on  physiological 
retentiveness,  71,  note. 

Jefl'erson,  Thomas,  on  the  site  of  New 
Orleans,  259  ;  on  slavery,  298. 

Jews,  the  patriotism  of,  15. 

Jones,  John  Paul,  voyage  of,  241. 

Judiciary  branch  of  our  govern¬ 
ment,  difficulties  of  teaching,  329. 

Kearney,  General  S.  W.,  subjugation 
of  New  Mexico  by,  97. 

King  George’s  War,  86. 

King  William’s  War,  85,  221. 

Klemm,  Dr.  L.  R.,  on  excellence  of 
historical  instruction  in  a  school 
in  Rhenish  Prussia,  55. 

Knowledge,  varieties  of,  17  ;  princi¬ 
pal  sources  of,  27 :  organization  of, 
73. 

“  Laboratory  method,”  39. 

Lafayette  on  the  Revolution,  231 ; 
participates  in  the  siege  of  York- 
town,  243. 

Lake  Champlain,  discovery  of,  99 ; 
“  Lake  Champlain  in  History,” 
100 ;  called  “  the  Gate  of  the 
Country,”  200. 

Lake  Erie,  victory  of  Perry  on,  249. 

La  Salle  takes  possession  of  Louisi¬ 
ana,  262. 

Lavisse  on  the  influence  of  nature 
on  history,  136. 


Law,  constitutional,  correlation  of 
history  with,  46. 

Lecky  on  moral  forces,  106 ;  on  the 
usefulness  of  history,  107  ;  on  mili¬ 
tary  or  industrial  habits,  131 ;  on 
men  of  genius,  132. 

Lectures,  courses  of,  as  a  means  of 
instruction,  61. 

Leuctra,  influence  of  the  name,  15. 

Lewis  and  Clarke,  explorations  of, 
272. 

Lexington,  battle  of,  88,  232. 

Lieber,  Dr.,  deflnes  guerrilla,  115. 

Lincoln  on  the  immortality  of  the 
name  of  Gettsyburg,  14 ;  stories 
told  bv,  48. 

4/7 

Literature,  general  value  of,  to  the 
teacher,  151. 

Livy’s  History  of  Rome,  division  of, 
into  decades,  80. 

Locke  on  the  value  of  history,  6. 

London,  Mackinder  on  the  greatness 
of,  123. 

“  Lone  Star  ”  republic,  267. 

Louisiana  purchase,  the,  185 ;  the 
territory  of,  258  ;  retroceded  to 
France  by  Spain,  261 ;  purchased 
by  the  United  States,  262 ;  La 
Salle  takes  possession  of,  262 ;  the 
flrst  boundaries  of,  263;  the  sec¬ 
ond,  264 ;  ceded  to  Spain  by 
France,  264;  annexation  of,  266. 

Lowell  on  New  England  history, 
214. 

Macaulay  on  the  value  of  history,  7 ; 
on  the  use  of  traveling,  13 ;  quoted, 
16 ;  on  detail  in  history,  20 ;  quoted. 
21 ;  as  an  historiim,  22 ;  a  master 
of  historical  narrative,  140  ;  on 
Charles  James  Fox  as  a  historian, 
142;  on  Sir  James  Macintosh  as 
an  historian,  142. 

Mackinder,  quoted,  115 ;  on  material 
civilization,  135. 

Mackintosh,  Sir  James,  as  a  histo¬ 
rian,  142. 

Magdeburg  centurists,  the  division 
of  history  by,  80. 

Manufactures,  influence  of,  on  his¬ 
tory,  33 ;  domestic,  Mr.  Calhoun 
on,  289. 

Maps,  historical,  34 ;  geological, 
117. 

Marathon,  influence  of  the  name,  14, 
15. 


INDEX. 


355 


Marlborough,  Duke  of,  diplomacy 
of,  108. 

Marsh,  George  P.,  on  physical  causes 
that  act  in  history,  113. 

Mason,  George,  on  slavery,  298. 

Materials,  historical,  selection  of,  42. 

Mathematical  data,  10,  67. 

McMaster,  J.  B.,  defines  his  plan  of 
writing  history,  23. 

Memoirs,  personal,  value  of,  30. 

Memory,  faculty  of,  45;  operations 
of,  69. 

Mental  qualities  required  to  teach 
history,  141. 

Meteorology,  the  infiuences  of,  116. 

Method,  topical,  28 ;  internal,  81. 

Mexican  annexation,  first,  267  ;  sec¬ 
ond,  268. 

Mexican  War,  the,  95. 

Mexico,  origin  of  the  name,  183. 

Mexico,  establishment  of  the  repub¬ 
lic  of,  267. 

Middle  Ages,  the,  103. 

Milan,  the  ancient  capital  of  Italy, 
123,  157. 

Miller,Hugh,  on  geological  history  ,36. 

Milton  on  the  educational  value  of 
history,  6. 

Mind,  activities  of  the,  17. 

Missions,  French,  211. 

Mississippi  first  called  the  river  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  186. 

Missouri  Compromise,  the,  306. 

Monarchs,  biographies  of,  49. 

Monographs  as  sources  of  informa¬ 
tion,  32. 

Monroe  doctrine,  269,  272. 

Monterey,  victory  of  General  Taylor 
at,  96. 

Montesquieu,  his  Spirit  of  Laws,  103, 
112;  on  human  causes  that  act  in 
history,  129. 

Montreal,  when  founded,  209. 

Monuments  as  a  source  of  informa¬ 
tion,  35 ;  historical,  scarcity  of,  in 
our  country,  37. 

Morley,  John,  on  the  educational 
value  of  history,  7  ;  some  remarks 
of,  to  teachers  of  history,  143  ;  on 
the  value  to  historians  of  a  practi¬ 
cal  knowledge  of  aftairs,  315. 

Mosheim,  method  of,  80. 

Mound  builders,  the  works  of,  37. 

Mountains,  inhabitants  of,  and  those 
of  plains  and  valleys  contrasted, 
166. 


Names,  geographical  and  political, 
dilference  between,  155 ;  the  mean¬ 
ing  of,  157 ;  geographical,  the  ori¬ 
gin  and  meaning  of,  168 ;  local, 
records  of  the  past,  169 ;  origin  and 
meaning  of,  172 ;  Indian,  186 ;  and 
nationalities,  relations  existing  be- 
tw^een,  190;  geographical,  infiuence 
of  religious  creeds  upon,  180 ;  Old 
World,  191. 

National  capital,  locating  the,  295. 

Naturalistic  theory  of  history,  112. 

Navigation,  inland,  facilities  of  the 
United  States  for,  278. 

New  England,  named  by  Captain 
John  Smith,  188;  history,  character 
of,  214;  emigration,  279. 

New  France  founded  by  commercial 
companies,  215. 

New  Mexico,  subjugation  of,  by  Gen¬ 
eral  Kearney,  97. 

New  Orleans,  victory  of  General 
Jackson  at,  252 ;  the  site  of,  259 ; 
acquisition  of,  264. 

New  York,  superiority  of,  as  a  trade 
mart,  124;  Dutch  traders  at,  49; 
evacuation  of,  by  the  British, 
244. 

Nile  Valley,  fertility  of  the,  119. 

North  America,  form  of,  193 ;  western 
side  of,  195 ;  eastern  side  of,  195 ; 
central  plain  of,  196 ;  great  water 
ways  of,  197  ;  colonization  of,  204 ; 
the  struggle  between  France  and 
England  in,  219. 

Northern  Pacific  Kailroad,  elevation 
of,  194. 

Nullification,  the  question  of,  289. 

Old  Testament,  the,  book  of  history, 
58. 

Old  World  names,  191. 

Olympiads,  the,  21. 

Ontario,  Lake,  discovery  of,  209. 

Oral  teaching,  advantages  and  dis¬ 
advantages  of,  59. 

Oregon,  history  of,  as  a  Territory, 
269 ;  origin  of  the  name,  270 ; 
boundaries  of,  fixed  by  treaties 
with  Spain  and  Russia,  271 ;  not 
a  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase, 
272. 

Organization  essential  to  real  knowl¬ 
edge,  69. 

“  Original  materials,”  36. 

Outlines,  importance  of,  63. 


356 


INDEX. 


Pacific  Highlands,  great  elevation 
of,  193. 

Palestine,  a  highway  of  war,  168. 

Palo  Alto,  battle  of,  96. 

Papacy  and  the  empire,  struggles 
between,  40. 

Paris,  Treaty  of,  244,  255  ;  negotia¬ 
tions  of  the  United  States  at,  253. 

Parkman  on  the  ignorance  of  tlie 
Indians  concerning  Nature,  102. 

Parnassus  in  Greek  history,  119. 

Partisan  warfare  rages  in  Georgia, 
242. 

Party  system,  the  practical  advan¬ 
tage  of,  333. 

Pascal,  on  the  analogy  of  the  race  to 
the  individual,  103 ;  quoted,  108. 

Patriotism,  14,  15. 

Paul  Kevere’s  Kide,  ballad  of,  men¬ 
tioned,  57. 

Pedagogists,  Herb  art  -  Ziller  school 
of,  l7. 

Penn,  William,  treaty  of,  with  the 
Indians,  99. 

Perception,  the  faculties  of,  45. 

Period,  the  historical,  82. 

Perry,  Commodore,  on  Lake  Erie, 
249. 

Personality  an  element  of  great  in¬ 
terest,  44. 

Philadelphia,  retreat  of  the  British 
from,  241. 

Philosophy,  political  correlation  of 
history  wdth,  46. 

Pictures  for  an  historical  work,  xxii. 

Pilgrim  Fathers,  44,  4^. 

Pilgrims,  landing  of,  85. 

Pitt,  William,  and  the  proposed  con¬ 
quest  of  Canada,  228. 

Pittsburg,  the  first  inland  manufac¬ 
turing  center,  279. 

Place,  or  the  geographical  relation, 
73. 

Plateea,  influence  of  the  name,  15. 

Plutarch’s  Parallel  Lives,  9. 

Plymouth  Company,  the,  188. 

Poetry  in  history,  48. 

Political  parties  in  1856,  308;  action 
of,  312;  inconsistencies  of,  312. 

Political  science,  a  knowledge  of, 
necessary  to  pursuit  of  history, 
315  ;  powers,  distribution  of,  in  our 
own  country,  318. 

Politics,  a  great  educative  power,  12 ; 
internal  improvements  Decome  a 
question  of,  287. 


Polybius  and  the  conception  of  unL 
versal  history,  102. 

Ponce  de  Leon,  search  of,  for  the 
fountain  of  vouth,  49 ;  and  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  Florida,  184. 

Postal  system,  the,  328. 

Potomac,  the  fortifications  of,  150. 

Principles  for  organization  of  his¬ 
torical  facte  stated,  73. 

Printing  cylinder,  introduction  of, 
for  cotton  fabrics,  304. 

Protective  duties  after  the  War  of 
1812,  288. 

Protection,  the  Whig  party  takes  up 
the  line  of,  290  ;  commerce  the  first 
great  interest  to  oppose,  290 ;  farm¬ 
ing  the  last,  290. 

Prussia,  the  original,  162. 

Puritans  and  the  shores  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts  Bay,  93. 

Quebec,  when  founded,  208. 

Queen  Anne’s  War,  86. 

Questions,  special,  condemned,  64. 

Quiz,  the  teacher’s  use  of,  05. 

Kailroad,  Northern  Pacific,  Union 
Pacific,  Central  Pacific,  194;  first, 
connecting  the  W est  and  tide 
water,  20. 

Ransome  quoted,  51. 

Reading  an  art  of  acquirement,  2. 

Reclus  referred  to,  15  (note). 

References,  1,  18,  27, 35,  42,  53,  67,  75, 
92,  101,  110,  127,  138,  153,  174,  192, 
204,  219,  231,  245,  253,  277,297,314. 

Reformation,  Protestant,  81. 

Religious  creeds,  influence  of,  on 
geographical  names,  180. 

Republicanism,  wLat  states  consti¬ 
tuted  the  strength  of,  292. 

Resaca  de  la  Palma,  battle  of,  96. 

Revenue  tariff,  288. 

Revolution,  the,  w’hat  it  did,  319. 

Revolutionary  period,  the,  83. 

Rio  Grande  frontier,  96. 

River  names,  memorials  of  the  earli¬ 
est  races.  171. 

Road,  the  nrst,  through  the  Allegha- 
nies,  279. 

Rocky  Mountains,  discovery  of,  211. 

Rogers,  Professor,  on  the  influence 
of  commerce,  manufactures,  etc., 
33;  on  history  of  domestic  poli¬ 
tics,  33. 


INDEX. 


357 


Romance  in  history,  48. 

Roman  Empire,  the,  a  great  political’ 
structure,  158. 

Romans,  the  original,  158.  ^ 

Rome,  described  by  Livy,  121 ; 
founded  by  shepherds,  121 ;  the 
site  of,  Professor  Goldwin  Smith 
on,  122. 

Roosevelt  on  the  War  of  1812,  248. 

Roumania,  how  it  came  to  be  so 
called,  158. 

Russia  asserted  a  claim  to  California, 
270. 

Russian  America,  the  idea  of  the  ac¬ 
cession  ot^  broached,  273 ;  treaty  of 
cession  of,  273. 

Russian  treaty  of  1824,  the,  272. 

San  Francisco,  124;  tine  harbor  of, 
194  ;  Bay  of,  96, 

San  Lorenzo,  the  treaty  of,  261. 

Santa  F4,  when  founded,  207. 

Savages,  the  superstition  of,  102. 

Savannah,  capture  of,  by  the  British, 
241 ;  evacuation  of,  by  the  British, 
244. 

Schalf,  Dr.,  quoted,  5. 

Schools  of  Berlin,  history  in,  58. 

Schurman,  Dr.  J.  G.,  on  organism, 
104,  note. 

Science,  biological,  11 ;  natural,  as 
an  aid  to  study,  36. 

Scotland,  causes  of  Calvinistic  the¬ 
ology  of,  according  to  Buckle,  112. 

Scott,  General,  campaign  of,  in  Mexi¬ 
co,  97. 

Secession,  causes  which  led  to,  309. 

Seeley,  Professor,  on  history,  7, 46. 

Seminar^  invention  of,  by  the  Ger¬ 
mans,  65. 

Seminary,  historical,  39 ;  proper  func¬ 
tion  of,  65. 

Sensations,  bodily,  time  measures,  7 6. 

Sentiments  and  ideas,  time  measures, 
133. 

Serapis,  battle  of  the,  with  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  241. 

Seven  Years’  War,  8. 

Shaler,  Professor,  on  the  depend¬ 
ence  of  man  upon  environment, 
135 ;  on  the  contrast  between  the 
French  and  English  colonies,  215; 
on  the  people  oi  the  English  colo¬ 
nies,  217 ;  on  contest  in  North 
America  between  the  French  and 
English,  229. 


Slavery,  introduction  of,  297 ;  at  the 
close  of  the  Revolution,  297 ;  the 
economic  advantages  of,  299 ; 
economical  defects  of,  299  ;  west¬ 
ward  extension  of,  305;  political 
status  of,  305 ;  opinions  concern¬ 
ing,  307 ;  political  opposition  to, 
307  ;  conditions  affecting  slave  cul¬ 
tivation,  309 ;  tends  to  discredit 
productive  labor,  310. 

Smith,  Captain  John,  story  of,  of  in¬ 
terest  to  children,  49. 

Smith,  Professor  Goldwin,  on  the 
site  of  Rome,  122. 

Sociology,  descriptive,  50. 

Socrates,  25. 

South  Carolina  nullifies  laws  pre¬ 
viously  supported  by  her,  289. 

Southwestern  accession  of  territory, 
96. 

Spain,  a  country  of  strongly  marked 
character,  163 ;  failure  of,  to  plant 
her  civilization  in  the  West,  207 ; 
cedes  Florida  to  England,  256 ; 
claimed  the  coast  of  California, 
270. 

Spaniards,  the,  in  early  American 
history,  207 ;  in  the  Gulf  of  Mex¬ 
ico,  206. 

Spanish  Peninsula,  the,  115. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  criticises  history 
as  taught  in  the  schools  of  Eng¬ 
land,  20 ;  quoted,  49 ;  method  of, 
50,  70. 

Spinning  jenny,  invention  of  the, 
304. 

Stars  and  Stripes,  the,  14. 

State,  powers  and  duties  of  the, 
327. 

States  rights,  fondness  of  Southern 
slaveholders  for,  294. 

St.  Augustine,  when  founded,  207. 

Steam,  utilizing  the  power  of,  286. 

Steamboat,  the  first,  to  descend  the 
Mississippi,  280 ;  the  first,  to  ascend 
Lake  Erie,  280. 

Stony  Point,  storming  of,  240. 

Story,  the,  in  history,  48. 

Stubbs,  Bishop,  quoted,  9,  13. 

Studies  in  general,  uses  and  values 
of,  2 ;  instrumental,  2 ;  guidance  or 
information,  2 ;  disciplinary,  3 ; 
culture,  3 ;  mathematical,  9. 

Succession,  the  relation  of,  76. 

Sumner,  Mr.,  on  the  growth  of  our 
1  national  dominion,  266. 


358 


INDEX. 


Sumner,  Professor,  on  the  tariff  act 
of  1828,  290. 

Systems,  industrial,  50. 

Taine,  M.,  on  physical  causes  that 
act  in  history,  113. 

Tariff,  revenue,  288 ;  legislation, 
288. 

Taxation,  national,  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  in  respect  to,  324; 
powers  of  States  relative  to,  325. 

Taxes,  kinds  of,  324. 

Taylor,  General, in  the  Mexican  War, 
96. 

Teacher,  function  of  the,  17,  109 ; 
qualifications  of  the,  138. 

Teachers  of  history,  mental  qualities 
required  by,  141. 

Teaching,  methods  of,  53. 

Territorial  growth  of  the  United 
States,  the,  253. 

Texas,  annexation  of,  96 ;  history  of, 
as  a  Territory,  267. 

Text-books,  independence  of,  65  ;  of 
history,  28 ;  analysis  of  matter  in, 
65. 

Thirteen  Colonies,  the,  189,  233. 

Thirty  Years’  War,  19. 

Ticonderoga,  construction  of,  228. 

Time,  or  the  chronological  rela¬ 
tion,  7. 

Time  relations,  89. 

Topical  method  of  study,  60. 

Topics,  value  of,  64. 

Tordesillas,  the  treaty  of,  205. 

Toryism,  effect  of  Lancashire  mines 
on,  118. 

Treaties  made  by  the  United  States 
with  other  powers,  253. 

Treatises  on  history,  32. 

Treaty  of  Paris,  86,  244;  of  Ghent, 
252;  of  San  Lorenzo,  261 ;  of  1803, 
264,  266 ;  of  1818,  271. 

Turgot  quoted,  104. 

Union  Jack,  the,  14. 

Union  Pacific  Railroad,  194. 

United  States  of  America,  proposed 
names  for,  189 ;  comparative  sizes 
of  its  physical  divisions,  197  ;  ter¬ 
ritorial  expansion  of,  202  ;  treaties 
made  by,  with  other  powers,  253 ; 


negotiations  of,  at  Paris,  253  ;  ex¬ 
tent  of,  in  1783,  254;  the  original, 
255;  first  national  boundaries  of, 
255 ;  title  of,  to  territory  west  of 
the  Rockies,  272;  area  of,  with 
dates  of  acquisition,  276;  indus¬ 
trial  and  political  development, 
277 ;  facilities  of,  for  inlancl  navi¬ 
gation,  278;  the  judicial  power  of, 
330. 

Upper  California  brought  under 
American  control,  96. 

Valley  Forge,  Washington  at,  239. 

Venice,  the  beginning  of,  123. 

V espucian  voyages,  account  of,  writ¬ 
ten  by  Vespucius  to  Lorenzo  de 
Medici,  177. 

Virginia,  original  territory  of,  187. 

Von  Moltke  quoted,  134. 

War,  Seven  Years’,  8;  of  Independ¬ 
ence,  86;  King  William’s,  85,  f21 ; 
Queen  Anne’s,  222 ;  King  George’s, 
223 ;  French  and  Indian,  224 ;  of 
1812,  the,  245. 

Warfare,  partisan,  raging  of,  in 
Georgia,  242. 

Washington,  George,  mentioned,  45  ; 
efforts  of,  to  defend  New  York, 
235 ;  crosses  the  Delaware,  236  ; 
at  Valley  Forge,  239  ;  disbands  the 
Continental  army,  244 ;  the  famous 
letter  of,  to  Governor  Harrison, 
282 ;  on  slavery,  298. 

Wayne,  General  Anthony,  storms 
Stony  Point,  240. 

W^ebster,  Daniel,  on  government, 
319. 

Weeden,  W.  B.,  on  town  economy, 
33. 

Wells,  J.,  on  teaching  history,  15. 

Welsh,  the  origin  of  the  name,  168. 

West,  early  population  of  the,  279. 

Whig  party,  the,  takes  up  the  line 
of  protection,  290. 

Whitney,  Eli,  inventor  of  the  cotton 
gin,  304. 

Yorktown,  Cornwallis  takes  posses¬ 
sion  of,  243 ;  siege  of,  243 ;  surren¬ 
der  of,  86,  244. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  INDEX 


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Lavisse,  E.  (jcneral  View  of  the  Po¬ 
litical  History  of  Europe. 

Lebon,  Andr6,  and  Pelet,  Paul.  France 
as  It  Is. 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.  The  Political  Value 
of  History  ;  History  of  the  Rise  and 
Influence  of  the  Spirit  of  Rational¬ 
ism  in  Europe  (Introduction) ;  His¬ 
tory  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century,  Vol.  IV.,  Chap.  XV. 

Lieber,  Francis.  Miscellaneous  Writ¬ 
ings,  Vol.  n.,  pp.  26,  28. 

Locke,  John.  Thoughts  on  Education. 

Lodge,  H.  C.  A  Short  History  of  the 
English  Colonies.  _ 

Lowrey,  C.  E.  Education,  Vol.  VHI., 
p.  447  (The  Philosophy  of  State  and 
of  History). 

Lyman,  Theodore.  The  Diplomacy  of 
the  United  States,  2  vols. 

Macaulay,  Lord.  Critical  and  Miscel¬ 
laneous  Essays  (History,  Hallam's 
Constitutional  History  of  Europe, 
Mackintosh's  History  of  the  Revolu¬ 
tion  in  England,  1688,  Mitford's  His¬ 
tory  of  Greece). 

MacCoun,  Townsend.  A  Historical 
Gteography  of  the  United  States ; 
Historical  Charts  of  the  United 
States. 

MacDonald,  J.  W.  The  Academy,  VoL 
V.,  p.  373  (Teaching  Civics). 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  INDEX. 


363 


Mace,  W.  H.  Papers  of  the  American 
Historical  Association,  Vol.  V.,  Nos. 
I.,  U.  (The  Organization  of  Histori¬ 
cal  Material). 

Mackinder,  H.  1.  Proceedings  of  the 
Royal  Oeographical  Society,  New 
Series,  Vol.  IX..  p.  141  (On  the  Scope 
and  Methods  oi  Oeography). 

Macy,  Jesse.  Our  Government,  How 
it  grew,  what  it  does,  and  how  it 
does  it. 

Mahan,  A.  T.  The  Influence  of  Sea 
Power  upon  History,  1660-1783 ;  The 
Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  the 
French  Revolution  and  Empire,  1793- 
1812. 

Marsh,  G.  P.  The  Earth  as  Modified 
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McMaster,  J.  B.  A  History  of  the 
People  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  I. 
(Introduction),  Vol.  H.  (Chap.  XHI., 
and  Map  showing  Land  acquired  by 
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Mill,  H.  R.  The  Realm  of  Nature,  An 
Outline  of  Physiography,  XVH.  (Man 
in  Nature). 

Milton,  John.  Tractate  on  Education. 

Montesquieu,  Baron.  The  Spirit  of 
Laws  (particularly  Books  XIV.- 
XVIIL). 

Montgomery,  D.  H.  History  of  the 
United  States. 

Morison,  J.  C.  Macaulay  (English 
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Horley,  John.  Critical  Miscellanies, 
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Morse,  J.  T.  John  Quincy  Adams 
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Mowry,  W.  H.  Elements  of  Civil  Gov¬ 
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Mullinger,  J.  Bass.  See  Gardiner,  S.  R. 

Munro,  J.  E.  C.  The  Constitution  of 
Canada. 

Neill,  C.  A.  The  American  Electoral 
System. 

Nordhoff,  (Ilharles.  Politics  for  Yoimg 
Americans. 

Old  South  Leaflets,  Magna  CTharta, 
and  Federal  Constitution  of  the 
Swiss  Confederation. 

Palfrey,  J.  G.  History  of  New  Eng¬ 
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Paris,  Count  of.  History  of  the  Civil 
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(Rivers  and  Railways). 

Parkman,  Francis.  The  Pioneers  of 
France  in  the  New  World ;  The 


Jesuits  in  North  America  ;  La  Salle 
and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West ; 
The  Old  Regime  in  Canada ;  Count 
Frontenac  and  France  under  Louis 
XIV. ;  A  Half  Century  of  Conflict ; 
Mont<^m  and  Wolfe ;  The  Con¬ 
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Tft*ail. 

Perkins,  J.  H.  See  Albach,  Annals  of 
the  West. 

Phillimore,  Robert.  International 
Law,  Part  HI.,  Chap.  XH. 

Ploetz,  C.  Epitome  of  Ancient,  Me¬ 
diaeval,  and  Modern  History. 

Poore,  B.  P.  The  Federal  and  State 
Constitutions,  Colonial  Charters, 
etc.,  2  vols. 

Porter,  J.  H.  Education,  Vol.  III.,  p. 
136  (The  Study  of  History). 

Preston,  H.  W.  Documents  Illustra¬ 
tive  of  American  History,  1606-1868, 
with  introduction  and  references. 

Prince,  J.  T.  Methods  of  Instruction 
and  of  Organization  in  the  Schools 
of  Germany. 

Putzger,  F.  W.  Historischer  Schul- 
atlas  zur  Alten,  Mittleren  und  Neuer 
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Ransome,  CJyril.  A  Short  History  of 
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the  Present  Day. 

Reclus,  E.  The  Earth  and  its  Inhab¬ 
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Redway,  J.  W.  Manual  of  Geography. 

Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten,  The. 
The  Report  of  the  Conference  oii 
History,  Civil  Government,  and  Po¬ 
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Roberts,  E.  H  New  York,  2  vols. 

Robinson,  R.  E.  Vermont. 

Rogers,  J.  E.  T.  Economical  Inter¬ 
pretation  of  History. 

Rollins,  G.  W.  The  Academy,  Vol.  I., 
p.  133  (American  History  in  Ih*epar- 
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Roosevelt,  Theodore.  Winning  the 
West  (particularly  C!haps.  H.,  HI.,. 
IX.) ;  T.  H.  Benton. 


Salmon,  Lucy  M.  The  Academy,  VoL 
V.,  p.  283;  Vol.  VI.,  p.  238  (The 
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Scaife,  W.  B.  America,  its  Qeograph*' 
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American  Historical  Association  for 
the  Year  1891,  p.  103  (The  Develop¬ 
ment  of  International  Law  as  to 
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Schaff,  Philip.  History  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  CJhurch  (General  Introduction) ; 
History  of  the  Apostolic  Church 
(General  Introduction  to  Church 
History). 


i 


364  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  IXDEX. 


Schouler,  James.  History  of  the  ' 
United  States,  5  vols.  ;  Papers  of  : 
the  American  Historical  Association,  | 
Vol.  IV.,  No.  III.  (The  Spirit  of  His-  j 
torical  Research)  ;  Magazine  of 
American  History,  Vol.  XVIII.,  p. 
326  (Historical  Grouping). 

Schurz,  Carl.  Henry  Clay. 

Secret  Journals  of  the  Acts  and  Pro¬ 
ceedings  of  Congress  from  the  First 
Meeting  thereof  to  the  Dissolution  of 
the  Confederation  by  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  4  vols. 

Seebohm,  F.  The  Protestant  Revolu¬ 
tion. 

Seeley,  J.  R.  Macmillan’s  Magazine, 
Vol.  XLV.,  p.  43  (A  Historical  So-  j 
ciety) ;  id.  Vol.  XLVH.,  p.  76  (On 
History  again) ;  The  Expansion  of  : 
England,  Second  Series ;  History  ■ 
and  Politics. 

Series.  English  Men  of  Action  ;  Eng- 

,  lish  Men  of  Letters  ;  Twelve  Eng¬ 
lish  Statesmen  ;  Rulers  of  India  ; 
The  Queen’s  Prime  Ministers;  Amer¬ 
ican  Statesmen  ;  American  Men  of  j 
Letters ;  American  Commonwealths ; 
American  Religious  Leaders ;  Great  ' 
American  Commanders ;  Questions  j 
of  the  Day  ;  Epochs  of  English  His¬ 
tory  ;  Epochs  of  Modern  History ;  I 
Epochs  of  Church  History ;  Epochs 
of  American  History  ;  American  : 
History  Series;  The  English  Citi-  j 
zen.  j 

Shaler,  N.  S.  Nature  and  Man  in  j 
America;  Introduction  to  Narrative  | 
and  Critical  History  of  America,  i 
Vol.  IV.  (Physiography  of  North 
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Short,  J.  W.  The  North  Americans  of 
Antiquity. 

Smith,  Goldwin.  Lectures  on  the 
Study  of  History,  I.,  II.,  HI.,  IV.,  V.  ; 
(An  Inaugural  Lecture,  On  the  Study  | 
of  History,  On  some  Proposed  Con-  i 
sequences  of  the  Doctrine  of  His-  | 
torical  Progress,  The  Moral  Free-  ; 
dom  of  Man) ;  Lectures  and  Essays 
(The  Greatness  of  the  Romans,  The  i 
Greatness  of  England) ;  The  United  I 
States,  An  Outline  of  Political  His¬ 
tory,  1492-1871. 

Smith,  Dr.  W.  A  History  of  Greece, 
Introduction ;  Dictionaries  of  Greek 
and  Roman  (Geography  and  of  the 
Bible. 

Spencer,  Herbert.  Education,  I.  (What 
Knowledge  is  of  most  Worth  ?). 

Stanley,  A.  P.  Historical  Memorials 
of  Canterbury. 

Story,  Joseph.  Commentaries  on  the  j 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  ! 
(fourth  edition,  edited  by  Cooley).  I 


Stubbs,  W.  The  Study  of  Mediaeval 
and  Modern  History.  Seventeen 
Lectures  delivered  in  the  University 
of  Oxford. 

Sumner,  Charles.  Works  of,  Vol.  XL, 
p.  181  (The  Cession  of  Russian  Amer¬ 
ica  to  the  United  States). 

Sumner,  W.  G.  Andrew  Jackson :  Lec¬ 
tures  on  the  History  of  Protection  in 
the  United  States. 

Taine,  H.  History  of  English  Litera¬ 
ture  (Introduction) ;  Art  in  Greece. 

Taussig,  F.  W.  Tariff  History  of  the 
United  States. 

Taylor,  Isaac.  Names  and  Places. 

Thirlwall,  Connop.  History  of  Greece, 
Vol.  I..  Chap.  I.  (Geographical  Out¬ 
lines  of  Greece). 

Thorpe,  F.  N.  Education,  Vol.  VII., 
p.  686  (Teaching  American  History) ; 
id.,  Vol.  VIH.,  p.  351  (History  and 
Economics  in  Manual  Training 
Schools). 

Thwaites,  R.  G.  The  Colonies.  1492- 
1750  (In  Epochs  of  American  His* 
tory). 

Trainer,  John.  United  States  History 
by  the  Brace  System. 

Treaties  and  Conventions  between  the 
United  States  and  Other  Powers. 

Trevelyan,  G.  O.  Life  and  Letters  of 
Lord  Macaulay.  Chaps.  VII.,  XI. 

Turner,  Samuel  Eppes.  A  Sketch  of 
the  German  Empire  from  Early 
Times  to  the  Dissolution  of  the  Em¬ 
pire. 

Vincent,  J.  M.  State  and  Federal 
Government  in  Switzerland. 

Von  Holst,  H.  Constitutional  and  Po¬ 
litical  History  of  the  United  States 
1850-1828;  id.,  1828-'46;  id.,  l846-*50.: 
id.,  1850-'54;  John  C.  (jalhoun. 

Vose,  J.  E.  Education,  Vol.  VIL,  pp 
531,  617  (Methods  of  Instruction  ic 
Civics). 

Walker,  F.  A.  Statistical  Atlas  of  the 
United  States,  Ninth  Census. 

Wallace,  William.  Education.  Vol. 
IX.,  p.  346  (The  Study  of  History 
through  Biography). 

Washington,  George.  Writings  of, 
edited  by  Sparks,  Vol.  VIH.,  p.  488  ; 
Vol.  IX.,  pp.  31,  58,  117  (Letters  to 
Chastellux,  Jefferson,  Harrison,  and 
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W^eeden,  W.  B.  Economical  and  So¬ 
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Wells,  J.  The  Teaching  of  History  in 
the  Schools,  An  Oxford  Extension 
Lecture. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  INDEX. 


365 


Wharton,  Francis.  International  Law 
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White,  A.  D.  Papers  of  the  American 
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Johns  Hopkins  Studies  in  Historical 
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Whitney,  J.  D.  The  United  States. 
Facts  and  Figures  illustrating  the 
Physical  Geography  of  the  Country 
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Wilson,  Henry.  History  of  the  Rise 
and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in  Amer¬ 
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Wilson,  Woodrow.  Division  and  Re¬ 
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Winsor,  Justin.  Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America,  8  vols. ;  Chris¬ 
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to  Frontenac,  A  Study  of  Geograph¬ 
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North  America  and  its  Historical 
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Winsor,  Justin,  and  Channing.  Ed¬ 
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VII.  Appendix  (Territorial  Acquisi¬ 
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Winterburn,  Rose  B.  The  Academy, 
Vol.  VI.,  p.  510  (History  Work  in 
High  Schools). 

Wright,  G.  F.  The  Ice  Age  in  North 
America  in  its  Bearings  upon  the 
Antiquity  of  Man ;  Man  and  the  Gla¬ 
cial  Period. 

Yoakum,  H.  History  of  Texas,  2 
vols. 


(14) 


THE  END, 


■'A 
■  * 

’.i 


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H 


t 


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52.  An  Ideal  School,  By  Preston  W.  Search.  $1.20  net. 

53.  Later  Infancy  of  the  Child.  By  Gabriel  Compayrk  Translated  by 

Mary  E.  Wilson.  Part  II  of  Vol.  35.  $1.20  net. 


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54.  The  Elducational  Foundations  of  Trade  and  Industry.  By  Fabian 

Wabb.  gl.20  net. 

55.  Genetic  Psychologry  for  Teachers.  By  Charles  H.  Judd,  Ph.D. 

$1.20  net. 

56.  The  Evolution  of  the  Elementary  Schools  of  Great  Britain.  By 

James  C.  Greenough,  A.M.,  LL.D.  $1.20  net. 

57.  Thomas  Platter  and  the  Educational  Benaissance  of  the  Six¬ 

teenth  Century.  By  Paul  Monroe.  $1.20  net. 

68.  Educational  Issues  in  the  Kindergarten.  By  SUSAN  E.  Blow. 
$1.50  net. 

OTHER  VOLUMES  IN  PREPARATION. 


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STUDIES  OF  GREAT  EDUCATORS 


Modern  Educators  and  Their  Ideals 

By  Tadasu  Misawa,  Ph.D.,  Honorary  Fellow  in 
Psychology,  Clark  University,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Pp.  vii,  304.  i2mo,  cloth,  $1.25  net. 

In  offering  this  work  to  the  educational  public,  Professor 
Misawa  has  made  a  notable  contribution  to  libraries  of  peda¬ 
gogy  and  done  an  important  service  to  all  practical  workers 
in  educational  fields — students  in  colleges  and  normal  schools, 
teachers  and  parents  who  take  a  special  interest  in  the  prob¬ 
lems  of  education.  The  educational  views  of  the  great 
philosophers  and  reformers  in  modern  times  which  form  the 
basis  of  the  present-day  education  are  presented  in  concise 
and  coherent  statements  and  always  with  sympathetic  inter¬ 
pretation.  While  the  fundamental  ideas  of  these  great  think¬ 
ers  are  expressed  in  the  chosen  examples  of  their  main  works, 
the  author  at  the  same  time  makes  independent  observations 
which  will  be  an  invaluable  aid  to  the  student  of  pedagogy. 

A  carefully-selected  reference  list  accompanies  each 
chapter,  including  only  those  bibliographies  that  are  easily 
accessible  and  worthy  of  recommendation  to  the  reader.  The 
following  table  of  contents  will  suggest  the  plan  and  scope 
of  the  work : 


Introduction. 

John  Amos  CoMENius(i  592-1670). 
John  Locke  (1632-1704). 

Jean  Jacques  Rousseau  (1712- 

1778). 

Basedow  and  Kant. 

Johann  Bernard  Basedow 

(1723-1790)- 

Immanuel  Kant  (1724-1804). 

Heinrich  Pestalozzi  (1746- 
1826). 

Johann  Gottlieb  Fichte  (1762- 
1814). 


Friedrich  Froebel  (1782-1852). 
Johann  Friedrich  Herbart 
(1776-1841). 

Herbert  Spencer  (1820-1903). 

Georg  Wilhelm  Friedrich 
Hegel  (1770-1831). 

W.  T.  Harris  and  G.  Stanley 
Hall. 

William  Torrey  Harris 
(1835-  ). 

Granville  Stanley  Hall 
(1846—  ). 

Index. 


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TWENTIETH  CENTURY  TEXT-BOOKS 


A  History  of  the  American  Nation 

By  Andrew  C.  McLaughlin,  Professor  and 
Head  of  Department  of  History  in  the  University 
of  Chicago.  With  many  Maps  and  Illustrations. 
l2mo.  Cloth,  1 1. 40. 

^‘One  of  the  most  attractive  and  complete  one-volume  his¬ 
tories  of  America  that  has  yet  appeared/* — Boston  Beacon, 

‘‘  Complete  enough  to  find  a  place  in  the  library  as  well  as 
in  the  school.** — Denver  Republican, 

This  excellent  work,  although  intended  for  school  use,  is 
equally  good  for  general  use  at  home.** — Boston  Transcript, 

It  should  find  a  place  in  all  historic  libraries.** 

— Toledo  Blade, 

‘^Clearness  is  not  sacrificed  to  brevity,  and  an  adequate 
knowledge  of  political  causes  and  effects  may  be  gained  from 
this  concise  history.** — New  York  Christian  Advocate, 

‘‘A  remarkably  good  beginning  for  the  new  Twentieth 
Century  Series  of  text-books.  .  .  .  The  illustrative  feature, 
and  especially  the  maps,  have  received  the  most  careful  atten¬ 
tion,  and  a  minute  examination  shows  them  to  be  accurate, 
truthful,  and  illustrative.** — Philadelphia  Press, 

‘‘The  work  is  up  to  date,  and  in  accord  with  the  best 
modern  methods.  It  lays  a  foundation  upon  which  a  super¬ 
structure  of  historical  study  of  any  extent  may  be  safely  built.  *  * 

— Pittsburg  Times, 

“A  book  of  rare  excellence  and  practical  usefulness.*’ 

— Salt  Lake  Tribune, 

“The  volume  is  eminently  worthy  of  a  place  in  a  series 
destined  for  the  readers  of  the  coming  century.  It  is  highly 
creditable  to  the  author.** — Chicago  Evening  Post, 


D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK 


222e 


A  BOOK  FOR  EVERY  TEACHER 


Youth — Its  Education,  Regimen,  and  Hy¬ 
giene. 

By  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  Clark 
University  and  Professor  of  Psychology  and  Pedagogy.’  1 2mo. 
Cloth,  ^1.50  net. 

This  book  embodies,  in  briefer  form,  the  essentials  of  Dr. 
HalPs  “Adolescence,’^  so  generally  known  as  the* great  work 
on  the  Psychology  of  Youth.  The  author’s  object  in  prepar¬ 
ing  the  smaller  work  has  been  to  bring  these  essentials  within 
easy  reach  of  normal  schools,  reading  circles,  parents,  teach¬ 
ers,  and  pupils  of  advanced  grades.  The  original  text  is  fol¬ 
lowed  in  so  far  as  it  is  of  immediate  practical  value  to  the 
teacher,  and  on  every  page  may  be  found  suggestions  and  solu¬ 
tions  directly  applicable  to  the  class  room.  The  book  is 
simple,  practical,  and  inspiring. 

Dr.  Coulter,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  says  of  it :  ‘Ht 
deals  with  a  fundamental  subject  about  which  there  is  wide¬ 
spread  ignorance.  It  bristles  with  information  and  suggestion 
by  one  most  competent  to  give  them.  Its  place  is  in  the 
hands  of  parents  and  teachers  who  really  want  to  know  some¬ 
thing  of  the  children  under  their  care. 

^Ht  will  develop  initiative  in  the  teacher,  who  will  begin  to 
individualize  the  pupils  and  adapt  methods  to  needs.  Teach¬ 
ers  usually  read  persistently  about  what  they  are  to  teach,  and 
this  is  exceedingly  important ;  but  back  of  this  lies  the  far 
more  important  problem  of  the  person  they  are  to  teach.  It 
is  this  information,  that  must  underlie  every  operation  of  a 
successful  teacher,  that  Professor  Hall  presents.” 


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A  NEW  TEXT  IN  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT 


The  Government  of  the  United  States 

i 

By  Bernard  Moses,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
History  and  Political  Science  in  the  University 
of  California.  i2mo,  cloth,  $1.05,  net. 

A  mere  discussion  of  the  Constitution — of  the  way  in 
which  our  Government  should  work — is  a  dry  and  not  very 
serviceable  study  for  pupils  of  high-school  age.  Professor 
Moses  has  made  the  subject  of  government  alive,  interesting, 
and  serviceable,  by  teaching  actual  conditions  and  results. 

Doctor  Moses’s  book  is  a  complete  elementary  treatise  on 
the  Government  of  the  United  States;  historically,  it  brings 
the  subject  up  to  the  present  time. 

It  is  simple :  there  is  no  confusion  of  topics  and  no  doubt 
as  to  the  import  of  a  single  sentence. 

It  is  not  too  voluminous  to  be  finished  in  one  school  year. 

It  shows  the  actual  working  of  government. 

It  shows  real  conditions  by  the  side  of  ideal  ends. 

It  is  not  a  discussion  of  the  policy  of  the  Government  or 
of  contemporary  social  movements. 

It  is  a  logical  whole,  not  a  cyclopedia  of  detached  bits 
of  information. 

It  does  not  hide  essential  facts  in  a  mass  of  detail. 

It  contains  many  helps  by  the  way. 

It  does  not  presume  or  demand  a  greater  knowledge  of 
history,  economics,  and  politics  than  is  generally  had  by 
high-school  students. 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 


446e 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  TEXT-BOOKS 


Medieval  and  Modern  History. 

By  Dana  Carleton  Munro,  Professor  of  European 
History,  University  of  Wisconsin,  and  Merrick  Whitcomb, 
Professor  of  Modern  History,  University  of  Cincinnati 
i2mo.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  Medieval  History  covers  the  period  from  Charles  the  Great  to 
the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century — the  development  of  Europe  in 
the  middle  ages  proper.  It  treats  of  all  the  peoples  who  were  influential 
in  shaping  the  history  of  our  ancestors,  and  shows  what  was  due  to  each 
nation.  It  describes  the  real  life  of  the  people,  and  less  space  is  given  to 
wars  and  political  events  than  to  the  civilization  and  the  general  social 
structure  of  the  period. 

The  Modern  History  takes  up  the  story  of  European  progress  from 
the  close  of  the  middle  ages,  when  new  impulses  began  to  make  them¬ 
selves  felt  in  all  departments  of  Christian  society.  It  brings  the  history 
of  each  European  state  down  to  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century, 
emphasizing,  in  the  case  of  each,  the  particular  problem  with  which  its 
people  have  at  present  to  contend. 

To  each  chapter  is  added  a  series  of  source  extracts,  illustrating  and 
amplifying  the  matter  of  the  foregoing  text.  Maps,  illustrations,  and 
bibliographical  notes  and  references  are  abundant  throughout  both  see- 
tions  of  the  complete  work. 

THE  VOLUMES  BOUND  SEPARATELY. 

A  History  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

By  Dana  Carleton  Munro,  Professor  of  European 
History,  University  of  Wisconsin,  laino.  Cloth,  90  cents. 

A  History  of  Modem  Europe. 

By  Merrick  Whitcomb,  Professor  of  Modem  History, 
University  of  Cincinnati.  lamo.  Cloth,  $1.10. 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY, 

NEW  YORK.  BOSTON.  CHICAGO.  LONDON. 


I'WENTIETH  CENTURY  TEXT-BOOKS. 


A  History  of  the  British  Nation. 

By  George  M.  Wrong,  M.A.,  Professor  of  History  in 
the  University  of  Toronto.  12 mo.  Cloth,  ^1.30. 

Next  to  the  history  of  his  own  country  the  pupil  in  the 
American  school  is  interested  in  that  of  England,  and  also  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  for  there  the  beginnings  of  American 
political,  social,  and  intellectual  life  must  be  studied. 

The  aim  of  this  book  is,  first  of  all,  to  explain  clearly  the 
growth  of  the  political  institutions  of  England.  What  is 
most  remarkable  in  English  history  is  the  steady,  resistless 
development  from  the  rule,  in  the  earlier  periods,  of  the 
King,  assisted  by  a  few  nobles,  to  the  supremacy  in  the 
present  day  of  the  House  of  Commons,  representing  the 
masses  of  the  nation.  The  Kings,  however,  were  real  rulers 
in  the  earlier  centuries,  and  it  is  fitting  that  special  attention 
should  be  given  to  such  strong  characters  as  Henry  II, 
Edward  I,  Henry  VIII,  and  the  Protector,  Oliver  Cromwell. 
In  the  last  two  centuries  it  is  ministers  like  Walpole,  the  two 
Pitts,  Peel,  and  Gladstone  who  figure  most  conspicuously. 

The  author  has  aimed  to  be  not  only  instructive  but  in¬ 
teresting,  and  he  has  succeeded  in  packing  into  an  attractive 
and  not  very  large  volume  the  really  salient  things  in  Eng¬ 
lish  history. 

A  manual  of  suggestions  for  teachers  is  furnished  with  the 
volume,  and  a  carefully  selected  list  of  references  for  further 
courses  of  reading  will  also  be  provided. 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY, 

MKW  YORK.  BOSTON.  CHICAGO.  LONDON 


science;  religion,  education. 

Adolescence :  Its  Psychology  and  Its  Relations 
to  Physiology,  Anthropology,  Sociology,  Sex, 
Crime,  Religion,  and  Education. 

By  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  Two  vols.,  royal 
8vo,  gilt  top.  Cloth,  $7.50  ne^. 

*  This  work  is  the  result  of  many  years  of  study  and  teaching.  It  is 
the  first  attempt  in  any  language  to  bring  together  all  the  best  that  has 
been  ascertained  about  the  critical  period  of  life  which  begins  with 
puberty  in  the  early  teens  and  ends  with  maturity  in  the  middle  twenties, 
and  it  is  made  by  the  one  man  whose  experience  and  ability  pre-emi¬ 
nently  qualify  him  for  such  a  task.  The  work  includes  a  summary  of 
the  author's  conclusions  after  twenty-five  years  of  teaching  and  study 
upon  some  of  the  most  important  themes  in  Philosophy,  Psychology, 
Religion,  and  Education. 

The  nature  of  the  adolescent  period  is  the  best  guide  to  education 
from  the  upper  grades  of  the  grammar  school  through  the  high  school 
and  college.  Throughout,  the  statement  of  scientific  facts  is  followed 
systematically  by  a  consideration  of  their  application  to  education,  pe¬ 
nology,  and  other  phases  of  life. 

Juvenile  diseases  and  crime  have  each  special  chapters.  The  changes 
of  each  sense  during  this  period  are  taken  up.  The  study  of  normal 
psychic  life  is  introduced  by  a  chapter  describing  both  typical  and  excep¬ 
tional  adolescents,  drawn  from  biography,  literature,  lives  of  the  saints, 
and  other  sources. 

The  practical  applications  of  some  of  the  conclusions  of  the  scientific 
part  are  found  in  separate  chapters  on  the  education  of  girls,  coeduca¬ 
tion  and  its  relations  to  marriage,  fecundity,  and  family  life,  as  seen  by 
.  statistics  in  American  colleges,  with  a  sketch  of  an  ideal  education  for 
girls. 

Another  chapter  treats  with  some  detail  and  criticism  the  various 
kinds  and  types  of  organization  for  adolescents  from  plays  and  games  to 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Epworth  League,  and  other  associations  devised  for 
the  young. 

The  problem  of  the  High  School,  its  chief  topics  and  methods,  is 
considered  from  the  standpoint  of  adolescence,  and  some  very  important 
modifications  are  urged.  It  closes  with  the  general  consideration  of  the 
relations  of  a  higher  to  a  lower  civilization  from  this  standpoint. 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK,*^ 


I 


•y 


K.-  f 


